americathe new film of Israeli director Ofir Raul Grazier, from The Pastry Chef fame, opens this weekend in select theaters in New York, LA, Encino, Delray Beach and Lake Worth (expanding to other markets in the coming weeks).
The film is beautiful, mysterious, tragic and hopeful in a way that was reminiscent of the independent films of the 1970s, particularly the films of the French New Wave, such as the moral tales of Eric Rohmer.
The story follows Eli (Michael Moshonov), a children's swimming instructor from Chicago who returns home to Tel Aviv after being told of the death of his father, from whom he is so estranged that he has changed his last name.
In Tel Aviv he reconnects with his childhood friend Yotam (Ofir Biterman) who is engaged to Iris (Oshrat Ingadeshet), a florist with her own shop.
Without giving away the plot, I will say that there are a number of love triangles, resolved and unresolved between the characters, but the film is as much about what is expressed as what is not. Although this is an Israeli film, there is very little that most people would register as uniquely Israeli or from Tel Aviv: no mention of the military, no mention of “conflict” or ” the situation” or terrorism. Tel Aviv is not the city of nightclubs, skyscrapers and crowded beaches, but a place where you can escape to hike to waterfalls and secret caves. That Iris is of Ethiopian heritage is never discussed or in any way a factor. Rather, her character is estranged from her mother because her family is ultra-Orthodox. And in a way, the film has a spiritual dimension about overcoming the various traumas that each of the characters has suffered and the redemptive power of nature and new life.
Director Ofir Raul Grazier will appear in person at select shows this weekend: Friday, July 5th in LA at Laemmle's Royal at the 1:00pm + 7:10pm shows; on Saturday July 6th in New York at the New Plaza Cinema at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, July 7th in New York at the New Plaza Cinema at the 3:15 p.m. show.
