The Dive
(Hatzlila)

Avoiding a self-evident documentary approach, Yona Rozenkier (who plays the role of Itai himself) preferred the round-about route of fiction to bring together his two brothers Yoel and Micha, in the kibbutz where they grew up together. Although the film’s autobiographical stamp is clear, it is never used as an alibi. This virile way of creating tension in the bonds that unite the brothers as they gather for their father’s funeral is mirrored by the portrait of a dying rural community near the Lebanese border. The weight of a rootedness whose values have been eroded, the threat of war and the fear of losing a son, brother or friend feed into the schizophrenic representation of a world midway between a hippy community and a military outpost. JB

Participation in the 2016 Sderot Produire au Sud Workshop