Guttman was born in
Sita Buzăului, district of
Covasna, in
Transylvania,
Romania and emigrated to
Israel at the age of seven with his family. He studied film at
Beit Zvi. Between 1975 and 1982, Guttman directed three short films:
A Safe Place,
Returning Premiers, and
Drifting. In 1983, he directed his feature debut,
Drifting (no relation to the earlier short film). He then directed three other feature films:
Bar 51 (1985),
Himmo, King of Jerusalem (1987), and
Amazing Grace (1992). Guttman was an openly
gay man, and most of his films—except
Himmo, King of Jerusalem, a film about the
1947–1949 Palestine war, based on a story by
Yoram Kaniuk—explored aspects of life for
LGBT individuals, including
AIDS, which was the subject of his last film,
Amazing Grace. Many Israeli actors made breakthrough performances in Guttman's films, including
Jonathan Sagall,
Alon Abutbul,
Sharon Alexander,
Aki Avni, and
Rivka Michaeli. Guttman was part of a group of young Israeli directors who called for quality films at the expense of commercial cinema. While he was an active director, He created a rich and stylish cinematic language, providing a unique sound. His films were notable for his attention to the visual and his distinct content. == Death ==