The Old Stores

On the streets of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, chances are you would hardly notice the old stores and small businesses tucked between mega-malls and franchised businesses. But step into the time warp of these neighborhood shops and time itself slows down: not much has changed for decades, except the owners and longtime customers, aging slowly. Exquisitely shot, The Old Stores provides a rare glimpse of a nostalgic world beyond commercialism, where people have survived hard times but face an indifferent present: the barber’s last day before his shop’s closure; generations of Mizrahi pharmacists who have witnessed Jaffa’s transformation; an old man who refuses to sell his button specialty store; and a watch repair store in an era of digital products. Each business has wrestled with its fast-paced competitors. Some give in and move on; others resist and end up retreating into their own enclave or espousing old-fashioned service. Director Yoav Gurfinkel wistfully captures the dilemma of having to contemplate change in the face of modernization. In The Old Stores, a clock is relentlessly ticking away tradition in the face of change.

From 2008 Festival: Director, Israel Yoav Gurfinkel graduated from the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School, Gurfinkel works as an independent director and has a wide range of experience in the field of television, creating both fictional and documentary television as well as music videos and commercials.