Benjamin Chiram

Daphne and her four children try to cope with the abrupt death of husband/father. As the family seems to fall apart, a sudden incident gives them a chance to heal their 'broken wings'.

"Intimate Grammar" is a sensitive study of an inner journey rich in detailed observation. A dysfunctional family and delayed puberty make life miserable for a pre-adolescent growing up in Jerusalem in the 1960's. The film, an adaptation of David Grossman's "The Book of Intimate Grammar", shows our hero, Aharon Kleinfeld, striving to survive his domineering mother, his anti-intellectual father and his own diminutive stature in a setting of a lower-middle-class housing development where gossip is rampant and appearances are all important.

Ten year-old Noam is a latchkey child whose parents have temporarily separated. While waiting for his parents to reunite, Noam fulfills a parental role to his sisters, even as he tests his own boundaries in a dangerous children's game. The family’s suspended routine will be shaken once more, when Noam’s mother announces she has important news.

Raveh does not only document the past, he documents a future that will never be, and the films that Amrani did not live to create. Researching Amrani's documents, Raveh found several short screenplays, and sought out three directors of Amrani's generation to bring them to life. The short films are interwoven throughout the documentary - "The Boat", directed by Nir Bergman, "Albert and Ronit", directed by Dover Kosashvili, and "Sabbath Eve", directed by Joseph Cedar. The warmth, intensity and drama of family life; issues of Persian ethnicity; tradition and the desire to break away from tradition; the competition and camaraderie of boys and men; the search for love; a persistent spiritual search and a love of the sea - all these are reflected in the brief yet intriguing vignettes, imbuing the film with a sense of Amrani's vision as a filmmaker and how his presence might have influenced the Israeli film scene.

Sharon Amrani's 1'st year movie at Sam Spiegel Film School