Expansive Paris-based media group Mediawan has picked up international sales rights to the Jerusalem-set ultra-orthodox drama “The Rabbi,” which participates in this year’s Series Mania Forum at its Co-Pro Pitching Sessions.
Abuses of power aren’t unique to any one nationality, gender, sexual orientation or religion. With “The Rabbi,” celebrated filmmaker Eytan Fox proposes a fictionalized drama inspired by a true story which shocked Jerusalem’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community that proves that such abuses can happen almost anywhere.
“The Rabbi” turns on a powerful and well-known university professor from Jerusalem’s ultra-orthodox community who uses his position to influence his male students into physical relationships. Although the students are all in their 20s and the relationships consensual, there is uproar when the truth comes out, both regarding the Rabbi engaging in relationships with his subordinates and the fact that this superstar clergyman is a closeted gay man.
Stylistically and thematically,...
Abuses of power aren’t unique to any one nationality, gender, sexual orientation or religion. With “The Rabbi,” celebrated filmmaker Eytan Fox proposes a fictionalized drama inspired by a true story which shocked Jerusalem’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community that proves that such abuses can happen almost anywhere.
“The Rabbi” turns on a powerful and well-known university professor from Jerusalem’s ultra-orthodox community who uses his position to influence his male students into physical relationships. Although the students are all in their 20s and the relationships consensual, there is uproar when the truth comes out, both regarding the Rabbi engaging in relationships with his subordinates and the fact that this superstar clergyman is a closeted gay man.
Stylistically and thematically,...
- 8/9/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
New Indie
Emma Seligman’s impressive “Shiva Baby” (Utopia) premieres on Blu-ray this month, and it’s a blisteringly funny, character-based comedy about a young Danielle (played by Rachel Sennott) whose rootless life when she attends a shiva with her parents (Fred Melamed and Polly Draper), only to encounter the boyfriend who’s financially supporting her, his wife — whom Danielle didn’t know existed — and Danielle’s ex-girlfriend. It’s a full buffet of misunderstandings, awkward encounters, and scene-stealing character actors, with a cast that also includes Jackie Hoffman, Dianna Agron, and Molly Gordon.
Also available: A jaded clickbait reporter has an unforgettable encounter in the indie comedy “15 Things You Didn’t Know About Bigfoot” (Kino Lorber); over-the-hill kung fu disciples rouse themselves from mid-life torpor to avenge the death of their master in the martial-arts comedy “The Paper Tigers” (Well Go USA Entertainment).
New Foreign
Eytan Fox’s cultural-generational...
Emma Seligman’s impressive “Shiva Baby” (Utopia) premieres on Blu-ray this month, and it’s a blisteringly funny, character-based comedy about a young Danielle (played by Rachel Sennott) whose rootless life when she attends a shiva with her parents (Fred Melamed and Polly Draper), only to encounter the boyfriend who’s financially supporting her, his wife — whom Danielle didn’t know existed — and Danielle’s ex-girlfriend. It’s a full buffet of misunderstandings, awkward encounters, and scene-stealing character actors, with a cast that also includes Jackie Hoffman, Dianna Agron, and Molly Gordon.
Also available: A jaded clickbait reporter has an unforgettable encounter in the indie comedy “15 Things You Didn’t Know About Bigfoot” (Kino Lorber); over-the-hill kung fu disciples rouse themselves from mid-life torpor to avenge the death of their master in the martial-arts comedy “The Paper Tigers” (Well Go USA Entertainment).
New Foreign
Eytan Fox’s cultural-generational...
- 7/8/2021
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
A middle-aged gay American travel writer rents an apartment in Tel Aviv from a laid-back film student in Eytan Fox’s formulaic audience-pleaser, “Sublet.” Venturing ever so discreetly into the kind of darker ruminations that marked his best-known films, . With two screenwriters (including the director) and three script editors credited, it may be a classic “too many cooks” situation, as the whole structure is as risk-free and standardized as a TV film, though newcomer Niv Nissem provides a freshness that papers over the conventionality of it all. Fox’s name recognition and the easy way the film goes down made it a festival success whose popularity will increase once streaming begins.
The first glimpse of Michael (John Benjamin Hickey) arriving in Israel tells everything about the guy: late 50s, blue Oxford shirt, white undershirt, “travel ready” cream-colored jacket. His conservative wardrobe doesn’t change, reflecting his rigidity. This is the...
The first glimpse of Michael (John Benjamin Hickey) arriving in Israel tells everything about the guy: late 50s, blue Oxford shirt, white undershirt, “travel ready” cream-colored jacket. His conservative wardrobe doesn’t change, reflecting his rigidity. This is the...
- 6/10/2021
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
After earning acclaim with Yossi & Jagger, Walk on Water, The Bubble, and more, Israeli director Eytan Fox is returning to feature filmmaking for the first time in nearly a decade with Sublet. A selection at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival, the film will now arrive next month and the first trailer has landed.
Starring Tony Award-winning and Emmy-nominated John Benjamin Hickey and featuring the debut of Niv Nissim, Sublet focuses on a New York Times writer (Hickey) who visits Tel Aviv after suffering a tragedy. The city’s energy and his relationship with a younger man he meets there (Nissim) bring him back to life.
“With rich, nuanced work by both lead actors, subtle writing and an unhurried pace, as the two men get to know one another they each make an indelible impression on the other,” said The Queer Review‘s James Kleinmann. “Along the way, Michael...
Starring Tony Award-winning and Emmy-nominated John Benjamin Hickey and featuring the debut of Niv Nissim, Sublet focuses on a New York Times writer (Hickey) who visits Tel Aviv after suffering a tragedy. The city’s energy and his relationship with a younger man he meets there (Nissim) bring him back to life.
“With rich, nuanced work by both lead actors, subtle writing and an unhurried pace, as the two men get to know one another they each make an indelible impression on the other,” said The Queer Review‘s James Kleinmann. “Along the way, Michael...
- 5/17/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
“The Bubble,” “Walk on Water,” and “Yossi and Jagger” director Eytan Fox returns to the terrain of gay introspective dramas with the new film “Sublet,” which opens on June 11 in theaters from Greenwich Entertainment. It will also be available on demand on July 9. The film offers a sort of Israeli spin on “Weekend,” with a writer arriving in Tel Aviv to reflect on life and love with a younger man. John Benjamin Hickey and Niv Nissim star. Watch the trailer below.
Michael (Hickey), a travel columnist for The New York Times , goes to Tel Aviv to write an article after suffering a tragedy. He is still grieving and the loss has caused problems between him and his husband. He just wants to do his research and go home. But when he sublets an apartment from Tomer (Nissim), a young film student, he finds himself drawn into the life of the city.
Michael (Hickey), a travel columnist for The New York Times , goes to Tel Aviv to write an article after suffering a tragedy. He is still grieving and the loss has caused problems between him and his husband. He just wants to do his research and go home. But when he sublets an apartment from Tomer (Nissim), a young film student, he finds himself drawn into the life of the city.
- 5/15/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The 32nd annual NewFest, New York’s LGBTQ Film Festival is bringing queer cinema to audience’s homes this year in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The diverse offerings at this year’s virtual festival should delight LGBTQ cinephiles of many tastes. The queer film fest will offer screenings through October 27, and the following five movies are some of the best on display.
“Ammonite”
NewFest 2020 is not completely devoid of in-person events, thanks to a select few drive-in screenings. The first of which was “Ammonite,” the highest profile awards contender of the lineup. The film by Francis Lee depicts the real life relationship between paleontologist Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) and a young woman (Saorise Ronan) in the 1840s. Those in attendance at the Queen’s Drive-In were lucky enough not only to experience the sweeping period romance, but also witnessed Winslet virtually present the inaugural World Queer Visionary Award to director Francis Lee.
“Ammonite”
NewFest 2020 is not completely devoid of in-person events, thanks to a select few drive-in screenings. The first of which was “Ammonite,” the highest profile awards contender of the lineup. The film by Francis Lee depicts the real life relationship between paleontologist Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) and a young woman (Saorise Ronan) in the 1840s. Those in attendance at the Queen’s Drive-In were lucky enough not only to experience the sweeping period romance, but also witnessed Winslet virtually present the inaugural World Queer Visionary Award to director Francis Lee.
- 10/26/2020
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
Israeli cinema has often wrestled with the complex nature of its youth culture, and while last year’s “Synonyms” set a high bar, Etyan Fox got there much earlier. The filmmaker’s 2002 “Yossi & Jagger,” which tracked a doomed gay romance among two soldiers, dove headlong into a society steeped in tough masculinity and conservatism at odds with the sensitivity and individualism of a new generation. Fox’s 2006 “The Bubble” went one step further, probing the “forbidden love” between a pair of Israeli and Palestinian men in Tel Aviv, while 2012’s “Yossi” explored the disillusionment of the aforementioned soldier heading into middle age.
With “Sublet,” Fox continues this exploration by widening his lens, with an intimate look at the contrasting values of gay men from different generations that uses the specifics of Israeli culture to explore more universal ideas. The result is and finding out why they can’t click.
With “Sublet,” Fox continues this exploration by widening his lens, with an intimate look at the contrasting values of gay men from different generations that uses the specifics of Israeli culture to explore more universal ideas. The result is and finding out why they can’t click.
- 4/22/2020
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
[Note: In the wake of the Tribeca festival's postponement this year, The Hollywood Reporter is reviewing select entries that elected to premiere digitally.]
Israeli director Eytan Fox, who landed on the map with his 2002 gay military romance Yossi & Jagger, brings sensitivity, restraint and slow-burn sensuality to a story of cross-generational emotional awakening in Sublet. John Benjamin Hickey's Michael, a New York Times travel writer whose column aims to discover as much as possible about his destination in just five days, finds Tel Aviv to be "full of contradictions, chaotic and intense, but at the same time ...
Israeli director Eytan Fox, who landed on the map with his 2002 gay military romance Yossi & Jagger, brings sensitivity, restraint and slow-burn sensuality to a story of cross-generational emotional awakening in Sublet. John Benjamin Hickey's Michael, a New York Times travel writer whose column aims to discover as much as possible about his destination in just five days, finds Tel Aviv to be "full of contradictions, chaotic and intense, but at the same time ...
- 4/17/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
[Note: In the wake of the Tribeca festival's postponement this year, The Hollywood Reporter is reviewing select entries that elected to premiere digitally.]
Israeli director Eytan Fox, who landed on the map with his 2002 gay military romance Yossi & Jagger, brings sensitivity, restraint and slow-burn sensuality to a story of cross-generational emotional awakening in Sublet. John Benjamin Hickey's Michael, a New York Times travel writer whose column aims to discover as much as possible about his destination in just five days, finds Tel Aviv to be "full of contradictions, chaotic and intense, but at the same time ...
Israeli director Eytan Fox, who landed on the map with his 2002 gay military romance Yossi & Jagger, brings sensitivity, restraint and slow-burn sensuality to a story of cross-generational emotional awakening in Sublet. John Benjamin Hickey's Michael, a New York Times travel writer whose column aims to discover as much as possible about his destination in just five days, finds Tel Aviv to be "full of contradictions, chaotic and intense, but at the same time ...
- 4/17/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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