“Bliss,” the latest film from Israeli director Shemi Zarhin, will screen at the Toronto International Film Festival in the festival’s prestigious centerpiece, it was announced Tuesday.
The film, known in Hebrew as Hemda, is the only Israeli film in this year’s program at North America’s largest film festival, which is in its 49th edition and will take place from September 5 to 15.
Bliss tells the story of a couple, played by Sasson Gabay and Assi Levy, living in northern Israel and struggling to make ends meet. They support the man’s son and grandson from his previous marriage and confront a disturbing figure from the woman’s past. The film’s program notes describe the film as a “sensitive, observational drama.” Gabay and Levy are nominated for the Ophir Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress.
The film was shot before the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in a region of Israel that has been the target of thousands of Hezbollah rocket attacks over the past ten months, and touches on relations between Jewish and Arab Israelis in the region.
Zarhin’s previous films include Aviva, My Love and Bonjour, Monsieur Shlomi. He also has a successful career as a novelist. In a statement, Zarhin said: “I am delighted to be participating in this great festival again with Bliss, at a time when major and important film festivals are turning their backs on Israeli films.”
“I hope the film will melt the hearts of the audience there, as it has already done for the directors of the festival program who have decided to accept it. This is a huge compliment to Bliss and all the actors and creators behind it.”
Further Israeli successes
His 2015 film “The Kind Words” also screened in Toronto. A few years ago, Toronto typically screened four or five Israeli films, but the number has steadily declined in recent years. There was concern in the local film community that no Israeli film would be screened this year, so the inclusion of “Bliss” and its placement as the centerpiece of the festival is good news for Israeli film lovers.
Only a few Israeli films were shown abroad this year at festivals not devoted to Jewish or Israeli content, including Omer Tobi’s Tropicana at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic and Tom Nesher’s Come Closer at the Tribeca Festival in New York. Come Closer won the Viewpoints Award and will be released in Israel in the fall.
