While many international film festivals, including Cannes, are currently sidelining Israeli cinema, it’s heartening to see some still choosing to showcase the latest Hebrew film industry productions.
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, one of the oldest and most esteemed on the international scene, has selected Tropicana, the debut film by director and screenwriter Omer Tobi, for the Proxima competition, its second most prestigious category. The Proxima competition features films that offer bold perspectives on cinema.
The 58th Karlovy Vary Festival will open late next month in the Czech resort town. Tropicana, starring Irit Sheleg (Bar 51, Abba Ganuv 3, Fill the Void), follows Orly, a middle-aged supermarket cashier living in a remote desert town. She divides her time between her monotonous job and caring for her family and demanding mother.
The mysterious murder of the head cashier leads to Orly's promotion, but she inherits not only the head cashier's position but also her turbulent past. Soon, Orly embarks on a dark journey of sexual discoveries, delving into her repressed desires and revealing her longing for human warmth and closeness.
While Tropicana is Tobi's feature-length debut, his portfolio is extensive, including short films, the Mediterranean musical drama series The Heiress and dozens of music videos for renowned artists such as Ivri Lider, Ran Danker, Sarit Hadad and Dana International. Tobi is also one of the founders of Arisa, the subversive Mizrahi gay party line that revolutionized the queer-Mizrahi cultural scene.
"I am very excited to premiere Tropicana at the Karlovy Vary Festival," Tobi told Ynet. "Especially for my many talented partners in its creation. Tropicana is a personal journey into a desert periphery, similar to where I grew up, composed of pieces of memories drawn from the depths of my soul. The film aims to untangle the complex bureaucracy of intimacy and the arduous journey toward a moment of human warmth in a reality of constant social and security survival. It invites people to find the human aspect in existence in a way only the beauty of cinema can provide.”
Tropicana also features performances by Rivka Bahar, Amir Ishar, Ilanit Ben Yaakov, Lirit Balaban, Rinat Matatov, Regina Spektor, Dover Koshashvili, Michael Levy, Uri Hochman and Dalia Beger. The production is led by Hilla Medalia, Gil Sima and Paul Cadio.
Meanwhile, the film Xoftex, directed by Noaz Deshe— an Israeli creator living and working abroad—will compete in the main event.
The movie, shot in a refugee camp in Greece, follows Syrian and Palestinian asylum seekers anxiously awaiting news about their refugee status. The protagonist, Nasser, decides to pass the time by filming satirical sketches. Nasser and his friends also prepare to shoot a zombie horror movie.
Deshe won the Lion of the Future Award at the 2013 Venice Film Festival for White Shadow, which dealt with the persecution of albinos in Africa. Deshe is of Israeli show business pedigree; he is the son of legendary promoter Avraham Deshe who was behind iconic Israeli acts, such as HaGashash HaHiver, Chocolate Menta Mastik and Kaveret.
The Karlovy Vary Festival has always been welcoming to Hebrew cinema, including several award-winning films.
In 1999, Arik Kaplun’s Yana’s Friends won the Crystal Globe for best film. In 2005, Eyal Halfon's What a Wonderful Place won the Special Jury Prize, and Uri Gavriel received the Best Actor award. In 2011, Yossi Madmoni’s Restoration won the Crystal Globe, and in 2018, Moshe Folkenflik won Best Actor for his role in Redemption, directed by Madmoni and Boaz Yehonatan Yacov.
This year, the 58th edition of the festival will commemorate the 100th anniversary of Franz Kafka's death from tuberculosis. The festival will feature films from around the world, from Japan to Hollywood, based on or inspired by the works of the Prague-born Jewish writer. Films about Kafka's life will also be screened.
“Kafka is one of those authors whose oeuvre has inspired filmmakers for decades,” said Karel Och, the festival's artistic director.
“It’s as if he were slyly challenging us to try to capture, as originally and intensely as possible, the elusive nature of his writings, his stories, the realities he has crafted, and the feelings of apprehension he elicits, but also the comic situations he has created.”