Israel Film Festival Spotlight: Intimate Grammar

The 25th Annual Israel Film Festival took place May 5th-19th. I had the pleasure of screening two films from the festival, Intimate Grammar and Brothers.


Intimate Grammar
Directed by Nir Bergman

The festival’s opening night selection is a coming-of-age story, set during the 1960s as a young boy, Aharon, tries to find a place for himself amidst awkward social scenarios and parents who refuse to believe in him and let him grow as a person. It’s a familiar yet original and engaging plot, and there’s a certain immutable spirit in its hero that helps to carry it. Aharon is an aspiring magician, eager to practice his tricks in front of his friends, and is often prone to speaking to an imagined version of himself, paging “Aharon to Aharon” as he dreams of a more exciting life for himself. The film feels just right, sedate and nostalgic, for the charting of a young boy’s journey through the formative years of his childhood in a youthful and secular Israeli society, and, like “Lost Islands” from the 23rd Israel Film Festival, it is a perfect representative film to serve as the opening night selection.