For My Father (2008) Sof Shavua B'Tel Aviv (original title)

Director:

Dror Zahavi

Writers:

Ido Dror (writer)
Jonatan Dror (writer)

Release Date:

29 January 2010 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The story takes place during one weekend in Tel-Aviv, in three main spots that lead to Carmel Market...

Awards:

3 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Shredi Jabarin	...	Tarek
Hili Yalon	...	Keren
Shlomo Vishinsky	...	Katz
Jony Arbid	...	Abed
Shadi Fahr-Al-Din	...	Salim
Rosina Kambus	...	Zipora
Oren Yadger	...	Shaul
Dina Golan	...	Sara
Chaim Banai	...	Rehavia
Michael Moshonov	...	Shlomi
Amir Yerushalmi	...	Avinoam
Khawlah Hag-Debsy	...	Fatma
Avital Pasternak	...	Adina
Adel Abou Raya	...	Ali
Yussuf Abu-Warda	...	Saleh
Uri Klauzner	...	Dotan (as Uri Klausner)
Dani Israelis	...	Yakir

Directed by
Dror Zahavi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ido Dror		writer
Jonatan Dror		writer

Produced by
Nikola Bock	....	producer
Evyatar Dotan	....	producer
Doris J. Heinze	....	producer
Shlomo Mograbi	....	producer
Ishay Mor	....	executive producer
Mathias Schwerbrock	....	line producer
Zvi Spielmann	....	producer
Heike Wiehle-Timm	....	producer

Original Music by
Misha Segal

Cinematography by
Carl-Friedrich Koschnick		(as Carl-F. Koschnick)

Film Editing by
Fritz Busse

Production Design by
Kuli Sander		(as Kuly Sander)

Costume Design by
Michal Arbit

Makeup Department
Esther Ben-Noon	....	makeup artist (as Eti Ben-Nun)

Production Management
Elke Andreas-Möller	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robyn Glaser	....	second assistant director: pre-production
Haim Rinski	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Thekla Demelius	....	sound assistant
Alex Epstine	....	boom operator
Norbert Göke	....	head of sound post-production
Dirk Jacob	....	sound designer
Dominik Oppon	....	sound assistant
Carsten Richter	....	foley artist
Dominik Schleier	....	dialogue editor
Ralph Thiekötter	....	sound re-recording mixer
Hanse Warns	....	foley mixer
Eli Yarkoni	....	sound

Visual Effects by
Thomas Diesselhorst	....	titles
Dirk Frischmuth	....	digital artist
Markus 'Maggi' Selchow	....	digital artist
Andreas Teichert	....	digital colorist

Camera and Electrical Department
Tal Lazar	....	assistant camera

Casting Department
Liron Zohar	....	casting

Music Department
Michael Aarvold	....	music scoring mixer

Production Companies

• Praxis Films
• Israfilm Ltd.
• Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR)
• Relevant Film

Distributors

• Kinowelt Filmverleih (2009) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Cinemax (2013) (Hungary) (TV)
• Film Movement (2009) (USA) (all media) (subtitled)

Special Effects

• Optical Art (film recording)
• Optical Art (titles)

Other Companies

• Studio Funk  sound post-production
• Tonstudio Hanse Warns  foley stage

Also Known As:

"Sof Shavua B'Tel Aviv" - Germany (original title)

Runtime:

USA:100 min | Israel:100 min

Country:

Germany | Israel

Language:

Hebrew

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Germany:12 (f) | Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Tel Aviv, Israel

Company:

Praxis Films

Quotes:

Keren:If I thought there was an afterlife, I'd kill myself.

A terrorist in Tel Aviv

Sof Shavua B'Tel Aviv (2008) is a German-Israeli co-production shown in the U.S. as "For My Father." Directed by Dror Zahavi, the film follows a Palestinian, Tarek (Shredi Jabarin), who is sent to Tel Aviv as a suicide bomber. When the bomb fails to explode, he's left stranded in Tel Aviv until he's able to fix the detonator. The entire movie takes place during Tarek's weekend in Tel Aviv.

Director Zahavi pulls off a coup, in that he makes his protagonist's mission understandable. It's hard to think of an audience being sympathetic to a terrorist bomber, but we can at least understand the internal logic behind Tarek's actions, even while we recoil at the thought of the suffering a terrorist bomb will cause.

Added to this volatile mixture is a young, liberated Israeli woman, Keren, played by the beautiful Israeli actor Hili Yalon. Naturally, there's a chemistry between the young man and woman, although the differences that separate them make Romeo and Juliet's problems appear trivial by comparison.

It's interesting that both Tarek and Keren are not cardboard characters. They have virtues, flaws, and unexpected facets to their personalities. Also interesting is the fact that they both face as much pressure and harassment from their own communities as they do from their counterparts on the other side of the political and cultural divide.

We saw this film at the extraordinary Rochester Jewish Film Festival, but it will work well on a small screen. It's a provocative, troubling movie, and worth seeking out and watching.