A boy and his older brother sit in a rowboat amongst a collection of bric-a-brac and miscellany. It could be an idyllic scene of sibling play, except for the distinct tilt of the brother’s head and a distant look in his eye. The young Yoni, deftly played by Yoav Rotman, attempts to connect with autistic Tomer, delicately acted by Michael Moshonov, by enacting a mini storm and flood within the shed, rocking the beached boat and flapping a nearby tin sheet. It is a moment of beauty and connection amidst the …More

The award winning Israeli film “Mabul”, meaning “flood”, had its North Amercian premier at the San Francisco annual Jewish Film Festival. This film that pulls at the emotional heartstrings is a masterpiece about a boy, Yoni, who struggles in his broken home as he religiously comes of age and prepares for his Bar Mitzvah. His mother is a teacher whose enthusiasm and contagious personality in the classroom dies within the walls of her own home and his father is a strict man whose hypocrisy in …More