After discovering that his father has lied to him for years about his estranged sister and his mother, 14-year-old Ilan runs away from home and ends up living with his sister, Dalia, who works on a cruise ship and is having an affair with a married man. While Dalia is at work, Ilan explores her down-and-out neighborhood and discovers and befriends Avram, an elderly holdout Communist living in an abandoned building with his weapons cache and marijuana-growing business, biding his time for the ultimate battle against the capitalists.
Acting
Assi Dayan's cranky, tender Avram carries every scene he's in.
Writing
Bizarre premise that somehow earns its emotional beats.
Director
Eyal Shiray
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Assi Dayan was one of Israel's most celebrated actors and also a notorious public figure; this late-career role let him play grumpy and vulnerable simultaneously.
The film captures a specific moment of early-2000s Israeli working-class neighborhoods being gentrified around them — Avram's squat isn't just quirky set dressing, it's political commentary on who gets left behind.
IL
