When low-level drug dealer Alex learns that his cousin is opening a restaurant in Tel Aviv, he wants in on the venture. Lacking the spiritual motivation that spurs many Jews to make Aliyah—a return to the Holy Land—Alex instead sees it as a chance to escape his current life, specifically the burden of his older brother Isaac, who is perpetually on the brink of financial disaster. He begins preparations, taking Hebrew lessons with his ex-girlfriend and tracking down the documents that will officially certify him as a Jew, and starts dealing cocaine in order to raise the funds he needs. But his brother’s mounting crises and a growing attraction to a new love threaten Alex’s plans. With elements of a thriller and a twist of romance, Elie Wajeman’s assured debut feature is a moody portrait of a man in search of a new beginning.


Written by Gaëlle Macé, Elie Wajeman, Photographed by David Chizallet. With Pio Marmaï, Cédric Kahn, Guillaume Bouix (88 min, In French with subtitles, Film Movement).