Mabul (The Flood)

Tolstoy famously claimed that unhappy families are each uniquely unhappy—and, by extension, uniquely compelling. The makers of The Flood, a heartfelt and exquisitely rendered drama from Israel, are destined to prove Tolstoy right. Director Guy Nattiv (co-director of Strangers, SFJFF’s opening night film in 2008), screenwriter Noa Berman-Herzberg and a brilliant cast bring such humanity and depth to this drama about a dysfunctional family that it took three top awards—including best Israeli feature—at the recent Haifa International Film Festival and six Ophir nominations (Israeli Academy Awards). The accolades are richly deserved. On a tumble-down collective farm stretching along Israel’s Mediterranean coast, the Rosko family is quietly struggling to keep up appearances while hiding their sins, small and large, from one another. Miri (Ronit Elkabetz) teaches preschool and is having an affair; her husband Gidi (gruff Tzahi Grad), a crop-dusting pilot on the moshav, isn’t letting on that he’s been grounded and has been whiling away his days getting stoned. And their late-blooming son Yoni is practicing for his upcoming bar mitzvah, avoiding the class bullies by selling them completed homework assignments behind the teachers’ backs. The Rosko household, fragile already, is thrown into disarray by the unexpected return of older son Tomer (Michael Moshonov, Lebanon), an autistic boy whose institution has suddenly closed. As family pressures mount, past secrets emerge, and Yoni’s Torah portion—relating the story of Noah and the flood—comes to take on multiple meanings, not only in the two brothers’ lives but for the whole family and their extended community: as the promise of either salvation or utter inundation. In addition to stunning imagery and technical craftsmanship, The Flood is anchored by tour-de-force performances, especially from Moshonov (seen at SFJFF in Tehilim and Bena) and young Yoav Rotman as Yoni.

Tadmor & Guy Nattiv are 2 young Writers Directors from Tel-aviv Israel. Graduated together from "Camera Obscurs Film School Tel-Aviv". They recently Made "Strangers" A 7 minutes drama for 20th century Fox Serachlight. "Strangers" was accepted to the short competition at Sundance f.f 2004 and to Berlin film festival panorama competition. From the "Guardian" review: "mesmerising short fiction.Crackling with tension, conveyed through deft cutting and beautifully smeary, subterranean close-ups, this mini-thriller eschews dialogue in favour of eloquent, heart-thumping images. Worth the price of admission all on its own, frankly" They just finished writing their first personal feature script "The son of god". A story about a 78 y.o holocoast surviver that goes on a "roots journey" with his religiouse jewish son to snowy Poland to search after a magician . Their 2 short movies Moosh & Mabul won over then 40 international film festivals awards including : Berlin Film Festival - "Crystal Bear" award ,"World fest" in Houston , Palm springs , Mexico, Dawson City in Canada , Durango Colorado , Santiago de Chile and many more. From 2008 Festival:Director, Israel Biography: Erez Tadmor & Guy Nattiv are two young Writers Directors from Tel-Aviv, Israel. They graduated together from "Camera Obscurs Film School Tel –Aviv". They recently Made "Strangers" A 7 minutes drama for 20th century Fox Serachlight. "Strangers" was accepted to the short competition at Sundance film festival 2004 and won for best short. It also went to the Berlin film festival panorama competition. Another of their shorts, "Offside" won for best short film in the Manhattan international short film festival in 2006. They just finished writing their personal feature script The Son of God. It is a story about a 78 V.O Holocaust survivor that goes on a "roots journey" with his religious Jewish son to snowy Poland to search for a magician. Their two short movies Moosh & Mabul won over then 40 international film festivals awards including: Berlin Film Festival – “Crystal Bear”award ,“World fest” in Houston, Palm springs , Mexico, Dawson City in Canada , Durango Colorado , Santiago de Chile and many more . Filmography: Moosh (2001)(short film) The Little Prince (2001) (short documentary) Mabul (2002) (short film) Strangers (2003) (short film) All well by me (2005) (feature documentary) Offside (2006) (short film) Strangers (2007) (feature film)