Doron Tavory

Salma Zidane, a widow, lives simply from her grove of lemon trees in the West Bank's occupied territory. The Israeli defence minister and his wife move next door, forcing the Secret Service to order the trees' removal for security. The stoic Salma seeks assistance from the Palestinian Authority, Israeli army, and a young attorney, Ziad Daud, who takes the case. In this allegory, does David stand a chance against Goliath?

Two Israeli sisters delve into the dark mystery of their father’s former life in Poland during World War II.

The film presents fascist ideologies since the beginning of the 20th Century. The actor/presenter of Maurice Barrés argues against foreign labor on the Tel Aviv beach. Mussolini in a gym. Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera in a bookshop. Carl Schmitt at court. Abba Ahimeir and Itamar Ben-Avi in a public library. Gudrun Streiter recalls her love affair with an SA Stormtrooper with Hitler and Himmler on a bench in a park. Three Rabbis from the Yitzhar Settlement on the West Bank: Shapira, Ginzburg and Elitzur have recently ruled that “there is a reason to kill a child if it is clear that it will grow to harm us” (Torat Hamelekh, 2009, pg. 207). They too appear and discuss their interpretation of Divine commands on a park bench.

The story is set in Jerusalem in the winter of 1959. Shmuel Ash, a sensitive student who has dropped out of university because his father's finances have collapsed, takes a live-in job as a companion to an elderly, incapacitated man, Gershom Wald, who needs someone to argue with. Wald learns from Shmuel that he has stopped working on his thesis, which dealt with Jewish views on Jesus. The conversation between these two protagonists revolves around the humanity of Jesus. Shmuel tells Wald about his alternative theory on Judas Iscariot: he says he believes Judas was not a traitor at all but, in fact, the truest believer in Jesus's divinity. Furthermore, a relationship develops between Shmuel and Wald's daughter-in-law, Atalia Abravanel, a sensual and mysterious woman. Shmuel falls in love with her in what becomes a tender coming-of-age tale.

In contemporary Tel Aviv, a mother and daughter confront each other after the death of the father/husband and the discovery of the dead man's secret affair. The daughter is drawn irresistibly to the "other" woman's son and torn between feelings of loyalty to her mother and distaste of the father's passionate past. The mother is tormented by the past betrayal and current jealousy. Each struggles to settle old debts as they both experience passion and pain, but grow to learn independence.

Hanan, a poor Yeshiva student, deeply involved in Kabbalah, learned that his beloved Lea, daughter of the wealthy man of the shtetl, will be given to another man. His incongruous death changes the cause of the events. The story takes an incredible turnover.

Hanan, a poor Yeshiva student, deeply involved in Kabbalah, learned that his beloved Lea, daughter of the wealthy man of the shtetl, will be given to another man. His incongruous death changes the cause of the events. The story takes an incredible turnover.

Twelve year-old Uri reports his teacher Balaban as a suspected spy when he observes him meeting with a young arab man. Only later does he discover that Balaban's interest in the young arab is romantic rather than political.