Shoshana Damari, “Queen of Hebrew Music” and Israel’s first diva, graced local and international stages with a larger-than-life personality and renowned voice. Yet beneath the persona, Shosana kept her personal and family life hidden. Now, for the first time, the woman behind the crown will come to light—a story of motherhood and affairs, fame and loneliness, isolation and confidence.
40-year-old filmmaker Yael Reuveny returns to Israel to reunite with former classmates from 1988, who were all coming of age as Israel was turning 40. They were the first Jews born in Israel, a dream come true for the many generations before them. Examining a decade that began with optimistic peace agreements and ended with the painful clash of the Second Intifada, Reuveny and her classmates discuss growing up as the first Israeli generation to know hope and perhaps the first to lose it.
Based on true events, Image of Victory follows the 1948 war from the two perspectives of an Egyptian filmmaker tasked with documenting a raid at an isolated kibbutz commune, and an Israeli soldier in the conflict who becomes a war hero. As more troops are sent into the battlefield and tensions escalate, both sides must reevaluate everything they know about life and war.
A boorish Israeli-American couple plan a Sabbath dinner party for a group of fellow ex-pat friends and family in their Hollywood Hills mansion. What could possibly go wrong? Well, start with a deadly mix of alcohol, add inflated egos, some inappropriate lust and top with raging jealousy and the result is of cauldron of murderous mayhem. A shot gun, garden sheers, kitchen knives and even a garbage disposal are used as weapons of choice as these deranged guests turn on each other in director Michael (“Out in the Dark”) Mayer’s outrageous and bloody comedy. Think “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” meets “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
Winner of the Golden Bear at Berlinale, the latest from Nadav Lapid (The Kindergarten Teacher) features a dynamic lead performance from newcomer Tom Mercier, whose feral intensity practically bursts out of the frame. Mercier plays Yoav, a disaffected young Israeli who flees Tel Aviv for Paris to start a new life. Desperate to erase his origins, Yoav sees becoming French as his only hope for salvation. Step one is to replace his language. From now on, he will not utter a single word of Hebrew and his dictionary becomes his constant companion. His work at the Israeli embassy is a burden, but studying for his naturalization test also has its pitfalls. And the young French couple he befriends has some rather strange ideas about how to help him. Based on writer-director Nadav Lapid’s own experiences, Synonyms explores the challenges of putting down roots in a new place. Yoav’s attempts to find himself awaken past demons and open up an existential abyss in this tragicomic puzzle that wisely knows how to keep its secrets.
Orna, (Liron Ben Shlush) is the mother of three young children with a husband struggling to start his own restaurant. To help support her family Orna returns to the workplace, landing a job with a former army superior, Benny (Menashe Noy) who is now a successful real estate developer. While Orna embraces her new position and tries to balance its demands with her home life, she begins to experience escalating sexual harassment from her boss. Her rapid rise through the ranks and her increasing financial success seem to parallel a pattern of predatory behavior which ultimately brings her career and marital relationship to the brink. This timely and devastating story is expertly told by long time feminist filmmaker Michal Aviad.
A subversive love story about clashing cultures and families, Kiss Me Kosher is a romantic misadventure crossing all borders. When two generations of Israeli women fall for a German woman and a Palestinian man, chaos follows. What happens when lovers don’t fit together but do belong together?
Aharon is a devoted father, who in order to avoid putting his son Uri into a supervised home, escapes with him on an adventure throughout Israel. Director Nir Bergman (Broken Wings) takes us on a touching father and son road-trip, examining family relations and separation.
Asia tells the story of a single mom, Asia, whose relationship with her daughter, Vika, is more of a sister relationship rather than mother-daughter. Asia’s expectations of honesty and openness begin to negatively impact her relationship with Vika, who strives for privacy and independence. When Vika’s health begins to decline, this only increases her desire for exploration, and Asia finds herself at a crossroads between her own parenting style and respecting her daughter’s point of view. It is a story of navigating relationships and motherhood.
Following a personal tragedy, Michael, a travel columnist for The New York Times, goes to Tel Aviv to write. His grief has caused problems between him and his husband, leading him to want to do his research and go home. But when he sublets an apartment from Tomer, a young film student, he finds himself drawn into the life of the city. The unlikely and intense bond they form transforms their lives in unexpected ways.
