''My Father My Lord'' (, lit. ''Summer Vacation'') is a 2007 Israeli

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by David Volach. It won the Founder's Award for Best Narrative Film at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

Plot

Rabbi Avraham and his wife Esther have one son, Menachem, whose birth they regard as miraculous. Menachem's curiosity about the world is repeatedly stymied by his father, who in one instance forces him to rip up an "idolatrous" picture. Foreshadowed by an instance of ''

Shiluach haken Shiluach haken (, "sending-away the nest") is the Halakha, Jewish law derived from the Torah that enjoins one to scare away the mother bird before taking her young or her eggs. This only applies to Kosher birds in the wild. The Torah promises lon ...

,'' a trip to the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

— the eponymous "summer vacation" — ends with Menachem drowning and his parents mourning.

Reviews and Awards

''Summer Vacation'' is the debut film by David Volach, a self-taught filmmaker who did not receive formal training in cinema, and it garnered rave reviews. Uri Klein wrote in ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

'': "My immediate reaction to ''Summer Vacation'' is surprise and excitement, even shock. This is a complete and mature work by a true artist who seems to have emerged in Israeli cinema from nowhere." Meir Schnitzer wrote in ''

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'', or ''Arbit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or at night. It consists primarily of the evening '' Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two ...

'' that it is "a great cinematic creation... an artistic miracle." Shmulik Duvdevani on Ynet remarked, "Rarely does a film come out of nowhere, without prior warning, leaving you astonished and awestruck." The film received four

Ophir Award The Ophir Awards (), full name: the Israel Film Academy Award, sometimes also known as the Israeli Oscars or the Israeli Academy Awards, are film awards for excellence in the Israeli film industry awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Tele ...

nominations at the 2007 Ophir Awards ceremony, including Best Feature Film for Eyal Shiray, Best Leading Actor for Assi Dayan, Best Original Screenplay for David Volach, and Best Cinematography for Boaz Yehonatan Yaakov. In addition to these nominations, the film won several prestigious awards. David Volach was awarded Best Director and Boaz Yehonatan Yaakov received Best Cinematography at the Ophir Awards. Volach also won the Best Director award at the Taormina Film Festival. At the Haifa International Film Festival, the film earned accolades for Best Direction (Volach) and Best Cinematography (Yaakov). Lastly, it secured the award for Best Feature Film at the

. In February 2008, a DVD version of the film was released, featuring a 25-minute conversation between Volach and the film's producer, Eyal Shiray, discussing the film's themes, its biographical connections to Volach, and its unique cinematic style.

Cast

Assi Dayan Assaf "Assi" Dayan (; 23 November 1945 – 1 May 2014) was an Israeli film director, actor, screenwriter, and producer. Life Dayan was the youngest son of Israeli general and defense minister Moshe Dayan and peace activist Ruth Dayan (née Sch ...

– Rabbi Abraham Eidelmann *Ilan Griff - Menahem Eidelmann *Sharon HaCohen - Esther Eidelmann

Gallery

Places that appear in the movie : File:Etz Chaim Talmud Torah, Jerusalem.JPG, the school of Menachem File:Jerusalem Stairs street.jpg, Stairs street File:Jerusalem Mea Shearim Kikar HaShabbat Greentec.jpg, Shabbat Square

References

External links

*
New York Times review of ''My Father My Lord''
2007 films 2007 drama films 2000s Hebrew-language films Israeli drama films Films about Orthodox and Hasidic Jews {{Israel-film-stub