Sof Shavua B'Tel Aviv (2008)

A suicide bomber becomes dependent on the kindness of strangers when his explosives won't detonate, giving him time to meet some of the people he's targeting.

Director:

Dror Zahavi

Writers:

Ido Dror, Jonatan Dror

Stars:

Shredi Jabarin, Hili Yalon, Shlomo Vishinsky

3 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shredi Jabarin	...	Tarek (as Shredy Jabarin)
Hili Yalon	...	Keren
Shlomo Vishinsky	...	Katz (as Shlomo Vishinski)
Khawlah Hag-Debsy	...	Fatma (as Hawla Dibsi)
Johnny Arbid	...	Abed (as Joni Arvid)
Shadi Fahr-Al-Din	...	Salim (as Shadi Pahareldin)
Dina Golan	...	Sara
Chaim Banai	...	Rehavia (as Haim Banai)
Oren Yadger	...	Shaul
Michael Moshonov	...	Shlomi (as Michael Mushonov)
Amir Yerushalmi	...	Avinoam
Israel Aharoni	...	TV Moderator
Rozina Cambos	...	Zipora (as Rozina Kambus)
Dani Israelis	...	Yakir
Avital Pasternak	...	Adina

Storyline

The story takes place during one weekend in Tel-Aviv, in three main spots that lead to Carmel Market. There are three protagonists: 1. Tarek, a young Palestinian man from Nablus. 2. Katz, an embittered old fellow. 3. Keren, a 17-year-old girl who grew up in a strictly religious family and left home to become a secular youngster. The three "heroes" are loners, driven by their past and by their inner conviction.

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Plot Keywords:

market | weekend | suicide bomber | peer pressure | zealot | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Germany Israel

Language:

Hebrew

Release Date:

29 January 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

For My Father

Filming Locations:

Tel Aviv, Israel

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,220, 31 January 2010, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$5,729, 7 February 2010

Company Credits

Production Co:

Praxis Films, Israfilm Ltd., Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Katz: That was culture. And what do we have here? Nothing. Just sweat and more sweat. No culture, no romance, no nothing. They took everything.

User Reviews

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.