Avanim (2004)

Original title

אבנים

Directed by

Raphael Nadjari

Genre

drama film

Country

Israel, France, United States

Runtime

1h 47m

Rating

7.0 of 10 from 7 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A woman is unhappy with her humdrum family life and job. After her close friend is killed by a thrown stone, she decides to break free and start over.

restlessintrospectivegrittyclaustrophobicsomberrawbleakvisceral

What happens

Avanim (Hebrew: אבנים) is Raphael Nadjari's fourth feature film. It was shot in and around Tel Aviv in 2003, in HDCam. The film was presented in the Berlin Film Festival as a Panorama: Special presentation in 2004. The screenplay was also written by Raphaël Nadjari, marking his first film in Hebrew. The story revolves around a woman dissatisfied with her family life and career who decides to unburden herself and start anew after her close friend is killed by a thrown stone. Stones were placed on her grave during the funeral, inspiring the film's title. The name of the film is derived from the Hebrew word for stones, which in Hebrew, holds deep cultural and religious significance. The film employs a Dogme 95-inspired aesthetic, characterized by intense improvisation and grainy digital video close-ups, amplifying the claustrophobic atmosphere. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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