The trailer has debuted for “America”, a drama directed by Ofir Raul Graizer (The Cakemaker), which will premiere in the world at Karlovy Vary Intl. Film festival in Crystal Globe competition. Beta Cinema deals with global sales.
The film focuses on Eli, an Israeli swimming coach who lives in the United States. A phone call informs him of the death of his father, with whom he has not been in contact. Eli reluctantly travels to Tel Aviv for the first time in 10 years to deal with the estate. On his short trip, he decides to visit his childhood friend Yotam, who was swimming with Eli when they were young. However, Yotam had long since left swimming. He runs a flower shop in Jaffa with his fiancée Iris who, like Elie, has no contact with her family. When Eli comes to visit the two, he will start a chain of events that will affect everyone’s lives.
“For me, the core of a story is a strong, semi-metaphysical friendship or companionship,” says Grazer. “But I believe and hope that everyone who watches it will find something else, because it tells different stories. It is about a sudden change of life, as our dreams and aspirations suddenly adjust to a new reality that forces us to Dealing with our past and rethinking our place in the world It’s a story about finding or rediscovering the term “home” It’s also a story about coming of age. It deals with childhood, guilt, sacrifice, and the power of healing and re-growth. It’s also about choosing between who we love. And who we desire.”
The film is produced by Itay Tamir. Co-producers are Marcus Cantis, Jean McCulla and Amy Livni. It is a Lily Film production, with a co-production of Schiwago Film and Mimesis Film. Starring Oshrat Engdashit, Michael Moshonov (Mary Magdalene), Ofri Peterman.
“America” will be distributed in Israel by Nachshon Films and in the Czech Republic by Mimesis Film.
The student film Graizer “A Prayer in January” was a resounding success. It has been invited to 20 film festivals and distributed by Edition Salzgeber. After graduation, Graizer wrote, directed and produced several short films which were shown in Cannes, Clermond Ferrand, Max Ophüls, and others.
In 2009, Graizer moved to Berlin and began developing his first feature film “The Cakemaker”. The project has been awarded the Nipkow program and has been invited to several co-production markets such as Berlinale and Agora. He and his producers decided to shoot “The Cakemaker” on a small budget of 80,000 euros in 21 days, in Berlin and Jerusalem. Based on the initial story, producer Itay Tamir, who had been Graizer’s partner in the film industry from the start, was able to raise funds to complete the film. Films selected “The Cakemaker” boutique and managed it internationally. It premiered on Karlovy Vary in the main section in 2017, and won an Ecumenical Jury Award. He was subsequently invited to over 100 festivals including San Sebastian, Istanbul and Palm Springs.
The film has been shown in cinemas in 26 countries including the United States, France, Germany, Japan and Mexico. He won many awards, including seven from the Israel Film Academy, thus becoming Israel’s official entry to the Academy Awards. Later, “The Cakemaker” was bought by Netflix in the United States, and it was also selected for a Hollywood remake, which is in preparation.
Another film developed by Graizer is the art house psychological drama “The Shepherd’s Dream”, which was funded by IDM – Südtirol Film Fund. Graizer hopes to shoot the movie in the near future. In addition, he wrote the cross-genre thriller “Beautiful Absence”, a sequel to the lively musical “Moondog” written by writer Dennis Hamill in “Law & Order”. Graizer is set to join the cast of a high-profile television series that will be filmed in Israel in 2023, and is developing a number of new projects for film and television in the US market.
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