I can’t do this, says the boy, I just can’t do it. Of course you can, says Eli encouragingly: close your eyes, take a deep breath and let yourself drift… Eli, an Israeli, is a swimming instructor in Chicago and takes away the fear of water from even anxious children; he doesn’t have his own fears under control very well: Before He emigrated to America years ago to escape his violent father. When he dies, Eli has to return to Tel Aviv.
There he meets his childhood friend Yotam again. The two seem to have more in common than just friendship, they seem familiar and jump into the water together. But one small misstep changes everything. Eli stays in Israel longer than planned, he looks for a job in a swimming pool and moves into his late father’s house. He also meets Yotam’s fiancée Iris, who comes from Ethiopia, and the two soon have more in common than just friendship.
After his acclaimed feature film debut “The Cakemaker” (2017), Israeli director Ofir Raul Graizer once again tells a love triangle between two men and a woman. On Sunday, March 10th, he will personally introduce “America” to the Munich audience. His film is a sensual melodrama that is somewhat reminiscent of the cinema of Pedro Almodóvar. It’s about farewells and new beginnings, you see an Israel that you can’t experience right now: full of life, blooming, colorful and very vital.
America, ISR/D/CZ 2022, film discussions with director Ofir Raul Graizer: Sunday, March 10th, 6 p.m., TheatineTheatinerstraße 32 and 8:15 p.m., New arenaHans-Sachs-Strasse 7