''The Vanishing Soldier'' (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: החייל הנעלם) is a 2023 Israeli

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by Dani Rosenberg who co-wrote with Amir Kliger. It is about a

deserter Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or Military base, post without permission (a Pass (military), pass, Shore leave, liberty or Leave (U.S. military), leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with u ...

soldier who sets out on a journey back home but his situation is complicated when his superiors think he was kidnapped by the enemy. It stars

Ido Tako Ido Tako (; born 4 November 2001) is an Israeli actor. He is known for starring in the 2023 Israeli war drama film '' The Vanishing Soldier'' and in the 2024 American epic biblical film '' Mary''. Early life Tako grew up in Hadar Yosef, Tel Avi ...

accompanied by Mika Reiss, Efrat Ben Zur, Tiki Dayan and Shmulik Cohen. ''The Vanishing Soldier'' had its world premiere on August 5, 2023, at the 76th Locarno Film Festival, where it competed for the

Golden Leopard The Golden Leopard () is the top prize at the Locarno International Film Festival, an international film festival held annually in Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. Directors in the process of getting an international reputation are allowed to b ...

. The film received 11

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 including Best Picture.

Synopsis

A year from today. Shlomi, an 18-year-old soldier, flees the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

battlefield and makes his way back to his girlfriend Shiri. When Shlomi discovers that the military elite is convinced he was kidnapped during the fog of war, he no longer hides from the soldiers he believed were chasing after him, but from his own identity, which has become a trap. In spite of his parents’ pleas that he returns to his unit before it's too late, Shlomi takes a desperate chance on love, with dramatic consequences.

Cast

as Shlomi * Mika Reiss as Shiri * Efrat Ben Zur as Shlomi's Mother * Tiki Dayan as Shlomi's Grandmother * Shmulik Cohen as Shlomi's Father * Mushy Vider as Deputy Officer

Release

It had its world premiere on August 5, 2023, at the 76th Locarno Film Festival, to later be screened in mid-August of the same year in the Kinoscope section of the 29th

Sarajevo Film Festival The Sarajevo Film Festival is the premier and largest film festival in Southeast Europe, and is one of the largest film festivals in Europe. It was founded in Sarajevo in 1995 during the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian War, and brings internatio ...

. It was also invited at the

28th Busan International Film Festival The 28th Busan International Film Festival () opened on October 4 at the Busan Cinema Center in Busan, South Korea. Song Kang-ho of ''Parasite (2019 film), Parasite'' fame welcomed filmmakers as host of the festival, while Park Eun-bin acted as ...

in 'Flash Forward' section and was screened on 8 October 2023.

Accolades

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vanishing Soldier, The 2023 films 2023 drama films 2023 thriller films Israeli war drama films Israeli coming-of-age drama films Israeli thriller films 2023 war drama films 2020s coming-of-age drama films 2020s French-language films 2020s Hebrew-language films Films about deserters