Eytan Fox Returning to Yossi and Jagger

It seemed like director Eytan Fox disappeared from the public eye, but this year he’s planning a comeback. 20 years ago his short film After made a name for him as someone who put homosexuality at the center of his works. He moved on to direct a few other features and TV series, his breakthrough came a decade later, with Yossi and Jagger, a 65 min TV film that broke out from the little screen to be shown at movie theaters locally and internationally. His follow-up was the hugely successful Walk on Water, and after that came 2007’s The Bubble, which was a local commercial success, but became a punching bag for most of the critics. Almost four years later, Fox is back: earlier this year it was announced that a Mamma-Mia type TV series he directed was re-cut into a feature length film, and sold to distribution in the U.S. And this week it was announced that preparations for a sequel for Yossi and Jagger are in full swing, with a script already fully written, and a cast already in place.

Ohad Knoller (Beaufort) will return to the character of Yossi, ten years after losing his love, Jagger. A decade later, Yossi is a doctor, drowning himself in his work in order to avoid dealing with the loneliness of the bachelor life. A brief encounter with Jagger’s mother (Orly Zilbershatz-Banai from Intimate Grammar) will force him to re-evaluate his life. Yossi and Jagger planned a vacation together at the southern resort of Eilat, but now, on his own, Yossi decides to take that vacation anyway, ending up meeting a new love, played by Oz Zehavi (Infiltration). Lior Ashkenazi (Late Marriage, Walk on Water) will have a part in this project as well, although it is not clear yet which part he will play. The project, entitled Yossi’s story (working title) is co-produced by Amir Harel (Oscar nominated Paradise now, and also Jellyfish) and by United King films.