SOUVENIRS
Israel, 2006, 75Min., Video, Hebrew, English Subtitles
 
Shahar is an unemployed filmmaker. His father, Sleiman, a strict 82 year old Yemenite, is unhappy with Shahar''s life style. The golden age of Sleimans life was his service in the Jewish Brigade of the British Army during WWII, of which he constantly bragged to his sons. As an incentive for his sons professional future, Sleiman suggests that Shahar makes a film about the Jewish Brigade. Shahar is not enthusiastic. However, when he realizes that his father may have left some "souvenirs", by impregnating two Dutch women, he decides to go ahead with the film, hoping to  ind some long-lost siblings to maybe share the burden of his fathers criticism. They set out together in the wake of the Jewish Brigade, beginning at the Sorek Brook in Israel, through Italy, Germany and finally Holland. They unfold the story of the Jewish Brigade while Shahar continues to conduct his secret investigation to locate his lost siblings until the search ends with a surprising discovery. The film exposes with humor and compassion the complex father- on relationship Sleiman and Shahar share, and raises universal questions and thoughts about the tension between myths of bravery and reality and between memory and historical truth.
Director: Shahar Cohen, Halil Efrat
Producer: Sharon Shamir - Sirocco Productions
Cinematography: Tomer Shani
Editor: Halil Efrat
Music Score: Shai Bachar
Trailer: http://www.docmovies.com/He/docaviv21.html
Cinematheque 1, 02/04/2006, 20:00