A Film by Dror Shaul
(Israel /Germany, 2006, 100 Minutes, Color, Hebrew, English subtitles, Cast: Tomer Steinhof, Ronit Yudkevitz, Shai Avivi, Pini Tavger, Gal Zaid, Henri Garcin )



Winner of the Berlinale 2007 Crystal Bear for Best Feature Film, Winner of Sundance 2007 Dramatic World Cinema Jury Award, Opening Film of  San Francisco JFF, Winner of Israeli Academy Best Film Award 2006

On a kibbutz in southern Israel in the 1970's, Dvir Avni (12) realizes that his mother, Miri, is mentally ill. It is the year of his Bar Mitzvah, and in a series of sometimes funny, sometimes frightening tasks, Dvir and his classmates have to prove their ability to live up to the social standards of the Kibbutz

In this closed, unique society, bound by rigid rules, Dvir navigates between the kibbutz motto of equality and the stinging reality that his mother has, in effect, been abandoned by their collective community.


AWARDS & FESTIVALS

 Berlin International Film Festival 2007 - Winner of the Crystal Bear for Best Feature Film
 Sundance International Film Festival 2007 -  Winner of Dramatic World Cinema Jury Award
 Montpellier International Film Festival - Winner of Prix Nova Award and Prix Jeune Public Award
 Opening Film San Francisco JFF 2007
 Miami Int'l Film Festival 2007
 Rochester Jewish Film Festival
 Israeli Chicago Film Festival
 Youngstown Jewish Film Festival
 Fairfield County Jewish Film Festival
 Central New Jersey  Jewish Film Festival
 Milwaukee Jewish Film Festival
 Winner of Israeli Academy Best Film Award 2006
 Toronoto International Film Festival
 Pusan International Film Festival
 San Jose Jewish Film Festival
 Contra Costa Jewish Film Festival
 Virginia Jewish Film Festival 
 Cincinnati Jewish Film Festival 
 Washington Jewish Film Festival 
 Philadelphia Israeli Film Festival 
 JCC Manhatten, USA
 Israeli Film Festival, Miami 
 Israeli Film Festival, NY
 Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival 
 Boston Jewish Film Festival 
 North Miami Beach Israeli Film Festival 
 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival 
 Wesleyan University, USA
 Northern Virginia Jewish Film Festival 
 Omaha Jewish Film Festival 
 Allentown Jewish Film Series
 Jewish Federation of Broward County  
 Tucson Jewish Film Festival 
 Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival 
 Seattle Jewish Film Festival 
 Greensboro Jewish Film Festival, North Carolina
 Austin Jewish Film Festival,  Texas
 Long Beach Jewish Film Festival 
 Durham Chappel Jewish Film Festival 
 New Jersey Jewish Film Festival 
 Baltimore Jewish Film Festival 
 Burns Film Center, NY
 Columbus Jewish Film Festival 
 Northern New Jersey Jewish Film Festival 
 Houston Jewish Film Festival 
 Rockland Jewish Film Festival 
 Detroit Jewish Film Festival 
 Staten Island Jewish Film Festival 
 Buffalo Jewish Film Festival, USA
 Harrisburg Jewish Film Festival 
 Madison Jewish Film Festival 
 Portland Jewish Film Festival 
 Tulsa Jewish Federation, USA


QUOTES

“The setting helps anchor the occasionally melodramatic story, but the film's real strength is its cast: French actor Henri Garcin as Miri's older suitor, the remarkable young Steinhof and the haunting Yudkevitch. This film will get to you.”  (now magazine)

“In a surprising, bittersweet gem set on a kibbutz in 1974, writer-director Dror Shaul takes an insightful but harsh look at communal life, Israeli-style -- and he pulls an emotionally rich performance out of Tomer Steinhof int he role of Dvir, his 12-year-old hero... The cast is marvellous, and the characters linger in the mind long after the final frame.”
(Toronto Star)

"An intense, disturbing coming-of-age drama... The director, who has spoken publicly about the film's autobiographical content, is still a young man, and there is a raw quality to the rage he expresses in the film that makes it extremely compelling". (The Jerusalem Post, Newspaper)  


Available for the USA only
Please inquire for 35 mm fees