''Bread'' (Hebrew: לחם, tr. ''Lehem'') is an 84-minute 1986 Israeli Hebrew-language

Prix Italia The Prix Italia is an international television, radio-broadcasting and web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with th ...

-winning independent underground dramatic television art film directed by

Ram Loevy Ram Loevy (; born August 1, 1940) is an Israeli television director and screenwriter. He has written and directed and documentary films that challenge the status quo on such issues as class conflict, torture, the prison system, and the Israeli– ...

and cowritten with and

Meir Doron Meir Doron (; born November 26, 1954) is an Israeli editor, journalist and publisher, and is the author of several books and award-winning screenplays. Biography Meir Doron was born in Rehovot. During the Yom Kippur War of October 1973, he serve ...

Synopsis

The film follows Shlomo Elmaliach (), who loses his job at his town's local bakery when it is forced to close. Rather than join the other unemployed protesters, Elmaliach locks himself in his own home and launches a very personal

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

. At first, people come to visit him at his home, and there is even a rumor that television reporters might show up (quickly dismissed by Elmaliach's friend Zaguri, played by , who states that “they only come when there is a ruckus”). Gradually, even Elmaliach's friends abandon him, and he ends up dragging his own family down with him. A son, Baruch (

Moshe Ivgy Moshe Ivgy (; born 29 November 1953) is an Israeli actor and director. Biography Moshe Ivgy was born in Casablanca, Morocco, to a Moroccan Jewish family. He was married to actress Irit Sheleg. Their daughter Dana Ivgy is also an actress. Afte ...

), seeks radical solutions to poverty, while a daughter, Navah (

Etti Ankri Esther "Etti" Ankri (, also spelled "Eti" or "Etty," and "Ankari"; born January 4, 1963) is an Israeli singer-songwriter. She is a former ''Female Singer of the Year'' in Israel, and has also performed in the United States, England, and India. An ...

, who also sings), who has escaped to

Tel Aviv-Yafo Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

to study, returns to her home and takes on a job on a production line, and Elmaliach's wife, Mazal (), takes on a job as a seamstress. At the end of the film, the factory is reopened as a result of all of the protests, however, by then it is too late for Shlomo Elmaliach. The film was produced by the

Israel Broadcasting Authority The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA; ) was Israel's public broadcaster from 1948 to 2017, succeeded by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. History The Israel Broadcasting Authority was an outgrowth of the radio station '' Kol Yi ...

, was broadcast on Channel 1, features music composed by Nahum Nardi to lyrics written by

Nathan Alterman Nathan Alterman (; August 14, 1910 – March 28, 1970) was an Israeli poet, playwright, journalist, and translator. Though never holding any elected office, Alterman was highly influential in Labor Zionist politics, both before and after the es ...

(plus the 1984 song ''

I Just Called to Say I Love You "I Just Called to Say I Love You" is a Sentimental ballad, ballad written, produced, and performed by American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer and songwriter Stevie Wonder. It was a major international hit, and remains Wonder's best-selling single to ...

'' by

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

), and stars ''inter alia''

Shmil Ben Ari Shmil Ben Ari (; born 7 February 1952) is an Israeli actor and voice actor. Biography Born in Jerusalem, to a Maghrebi Jewish family with parents who emigrated from Morocco and Tunisia. He studied at Beit Zvi. As an actor, Ben Ari was the st ...

, , , and .. Gross, Natan. .

Reception

The journalist has compared the film to the works of

Alain Resnais Alain Resnais (; 3 June 19221 March 2014) was a French film director and screenwriter whose career extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct short films including '' Night and Fog ...

Chris Marker Chris Marker (; 29 July 1921 – 29 July 2012) (born ''Christian-François Bouche-Villeneuve'') was a French writer, photographer, documentary film director, multimedia artist and Essay#Film, film essayist. His best known films are ''La Jetée' ...

Agnès Varda Agnès Varda (; born Arlette Varda; 30 May 1928 – 29 March 2019) was a Belgian-born French film director, screenwriter and photographer. Varda's work employed location shooting in an era when the limitations of sound technology made it easier ...

, and

Michelangelo Antonioni Michelangelo Antonioni ( ; ; 29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and editor. He is best known for his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents", ''L'Avventura'' (1960), ''La Notte'' (1961), and '' ...

and has opined that it “is still very powerful, and it seems as relevant today as it was on the day it was first aired.” All five films were released in Israel as part of a limited edition DVD boxset in 2009. Reported in: .

References

External links

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Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation is the national broadcaster of Israel. It carries the blanket branding Kan in Hebrew () and Makan in Arabic (). Its news division, Kan News, is the third biggest brand in Israeli newscasting, after Ha ...

Channel) {{in lang, he 1986 television films 1986 films 1980s political comedy-drama films Comedy-drama television films Films about dysfunctional families Films about labor relations Films about old age Films about poverty Films about prejudice Films about racism Films about royalty Films about social class Films about television people Films about the Israel Defense Forces Films about the labor movement Films shot in Israel Films shot in Palestine 1980s Hebrew-language films Israeli comedy-drama films Poverty in television Television shows about racism Channel 1 (Israel) original programming Television shows set in Israel Fiction about unemployment Works about classism