With nominations being announced tomorrow, here are a pair which I’ve yet to see, but who should nab some mentions.
Nir Bergman’s Intimate Grammar
Eight years after his hugely successful drama Broken Wings, Nir Bergman return to feature filmmaking comes via the big screen adaptation of David Grossman’s novel. It tells of a young boy in 1960’s Israel, who’s physical growth mysteriously comes to a sudden stop. Starring Orly Zilbershatz Banai (who also appeared in “Broken Wings” and in “Walking the dog”, a TV mini-series Bergman directed in 2006), Evelyn Caplon, and a cast of unknowns. Most critics who’ve seen the film state that Intimate Grammar is a moving drama, with the last 20 minutes of the film elevating it to a masterpiece status. It won Best Picture in this year’s Jerusalem Film Festival, and is likely to receive the biggest amount of nominations, making him the frontrunner for an award. (See pic above)
Guy Nativ’s Mabul (The Flood)
In 2006, Guy Nativ co-directed the Sundance selected Strangers – the drama helmed also by Erez Tadmor, took place in the time of the previous soccer world championship, and it basically had an Israeli man and a Palestinian woman falling in love in Europe, away from the conflicts they’d find at home. Tadmor would continue on to direct the box office smash hit “A Matter of Size”, while Nativ focused on this project — his first solo flight.
Mabul is actually a longer version of his graduation film, which the helmer made a decade ago. It tells the story of a troubled young man who surprisingly comes back into his family’s life, just as the younger brother is about to have his Bar-Mitzvah. The movie stars Michael Moshonov (“Lebanon”), Ronit Elkabetz (“Late Marriage”, “The Band’s Visit”), and Tzahi Grad (winner of Israeli Academy award for best supporting actor for his part in the 2006 pic “Someone to Run With”). The movie was warmly received by Academy members, and it might get quite a few nominations. It was also rumored that this could be the opening film of the Haifa film festival in September.