The Dress

This is a story of a relationship between three men: Amin, a Palestinian nationalist; Joseph, an Israeli peacenik; and Colonel Shalit, a right-wing Israeli intelligence officer.

Menahem Golan directs this warmhearted comedy. A wily widower that deals in used furniture fights progress (and city hall). His home slated to be bulldozed, his business in trouble and his daughter poised to leave the nest with her wealthy fiancé, small-time Tel Aviv junk dealer Lupo (Yehuda Barkan) still finds the courage to keep his life, and his pride, intact.

Yoni, an Israeli pop singer, and Walid, a Palestinian Arab professor, raise money from a German source in order to build a Palestinian college within Israel. But both are trapped in a deadly struggle: Palestinian radicals attempt to use Yoni and Walid to purchase arms, while the Israeli secret police try use them to locate Arab extremists.

Not everyone is born to be a soldier. Not even in Israel, where universal conscription is the tradition. This movie is about a Sad Sack in the Israeli army, incompetent to complete training and yet incompetent to extricate himself.

Director Yeud Levanon’s feature-length debut follows the story of Itzik (Gedalia Besser), a military radio station producer who, in between having to navigate all the internal power struggles at the station, must also juggle his estranged wife (Gila Almagor), teenage daughter, young pregnant partner (Dafna Armoni), and a soldier with whom he is having an affair (Irit Sheleg). Meanwhile, he is also working on getting a young Middle Eastern folk singer’s (Arnon Zadok) album produced. The film’s protagonist is living a mile-a-minute life made up of constant downward spirals or ego-tripping highs. However, try as he might to have his cake and eat it – it is only a matter of time until his whole world comes crashing down on him.

Odelia, a talented screenwriter, and her father,a well-known author, have a bond that is both complicated and demanding. The agonies of writing make it difficult for Odelia to bridge the gap between the buzz of creation and the the depths of despair, and the frustration affects her romantic relationship.