Maya Linik is 82 years old. She has 5 sons but in her mind, she has no one. Maya used to have 6 sons. her 1st born- Zohar- died in a training accident, during his military service. He was her favorite boy. When they told her he was killed, she didn’t cry. (She’s from Germany, and Germans don’t cry). She sat on the porch and smoked one cigarette after another. That was 40 years ago. In the time that has passed, she filled the house with his photos, and turned it into a mausoleum. Mayas 5 living sons grew up on their own. Today they are men in their late 40’s and 50’s but they still ache for a mothers love. We are told that a mother should love her children equally. This film is about the taboo surrounding motherly love.
Two brothers, both in their early 70s, hold a long life grudge against each other. They can be compared in so many ways, yet they cannot manage to keep a brotherly relationship, due to childhood traumas. Ehud, the eldest, can be called a ‘homeless millionaire’, whereas Zamir, the youngest, can be known as a ‘comfortably bitter man.’ They live on two separate sides of the world, one in Israel, and the other in America. One is divorced, the other is married. It’s known that blood is thicker than water; unfortunately not in this case.
For many years, conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim has worked towards reconciling Arabs and Israelis. Based on the notion that “music is the language of peace”, Barenboim and comparative literature professor Edward Said brought together Arab and Israeli musicians, to perform in Weimar on the 250th anniversary of the birth of Goethe. Also participating in this bold experiment in 1999 was Yo-Yo Ma. The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, a name derived from a collection of poems by Goethe, today embraces eighty Arab and Israeli musicians aged thirteen to twenty-six. Director Paul Smaczny has followed the orchestra since its inception. The film chronicles all five summer workshops in Weimar and Seville, Barenboim’s visit to Ramallah and Jerusalem in May 2004 – during which he received the prestigious Wolf Prize at the Knesset – as well as the sensational concert in Ramallah in August 2005.
Can an artist be too modest to become famous? Asher Feldman was an Israeli painter who led an anonymous life away from the crowd, and left behind an artistic treasure containing hundreds of paintings. Years later, his only daughter Lola, as vivid as an adolescent at her 80th birthday, faces a dramatic decision: Will she keep his works to herself, as her father did, or sell it and thereby share it with the rest of the world? A story about people who dare to give up fame and big money. A breathtaking encounter with a hidden piece of Israeli Legacy.
The film accompanies three Israeli sisters in search of their mother who has disappeared in China. Following photos from her digital camera, they try to piece together the story of her disappearance. During the emotionally intense journey in foreign parts the complex relationship between each woman and her mother is revealed. What begins as a hopeful search, becomes a journey of farewell in which each woman must come to terms with her loss.
An intimate documentation of the important events in the personal and family life of the filmmaker in the last years. Questions of belonging, sexuality, and love.
