''Victory'' () is a 2023 Israeli

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

directed by Eliran Peleg. The film stars Daniel Litman, Yael Sztulman,

Amit Farkash Amit Farkas-Yonas (; born ) is a Canadian-born Israeli actress and singer. She is best known as the protagonist of the Israeli television series ''Split (TV series), Split''. Biography Melissa Amit Farkas was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to ...

and Yadin Gellman as two couples amid the euphoria of Israel's victory over

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

in the 1967

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

. ''Victory'' premiered at the

Haifa International Film Festival The Haifa International Film Festival () is an annual film festival that takes place every autumn (between late September and late October), during the week-long holiday of Sukkot, in Haifa, Israel. History The festival was inaugurated in 1983 an ...

in October 2023, where it was nominated for Best Film, and went into wide theatrical release in February 2024. The film received critical acclaim in Israel, with critics commending its surprising complexity and portrayal of

PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster, traffic collision, ...

. It was nominated for four

Ophir Awards 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 Televi ...

, and won for Best Music.

Plot summary

Amid the euphoria of Israel's victory in the 1967

, the lives of two couples from Kibbutz

Netzer Sereni Netzer Sereni () is a kibbutz in central Israel. Located in the Shephelah between Be'er Ya'akov and Ness Ziona, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gezer Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Kibbutz Netzer Sereni was founded in ...

change significantly. Amos Agmon (Litman) returns home, changed by the war and traumatized. As he returns, his wife Neta's (Sztulman) star is on the rise as an actress. The couple struggle to reconnect amid Neta's career success and Agmon's unacknowledged trauma.

Cast

* Daniel Litman as Amos Agmon *Yael Sztulman as Neta Agmon *

as Yael Harlap * Yadin Gellman as Shlomo Harlap *

Yoav Rotman Yoav Rotman (; born 24 February 1995) is an Israeli film, television and stage actor. Early life and education He was born and raised in Kadima-Tzoran, Kadima. He studied at the Thelma Yellin High School of Arts and graduated in 2013. As a conscr ...

as Ilan Rechavam *Dor Harari as Mike *Sharon Alexander as Yakov Agmon

Production

Amos'

was inspired by a comment that Peleg heard made by an Israeli veteran with PTSD. A total of 14 songs original songs written for the film were used and sung by the actors and a choir. The soundtrack was recorded with an orchestra in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and with many musicians in Israel. The film was shot in Israel and abroad, between June 2021 and December of the same year. The film received financial support from the Rabinowitz Foundation for the Arts, the Kader Foundation, Channel 13, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and private investors. Parts of the film were re-edited in the wake of the

7 October attacks On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...

on Israel. Yadin Gellman, one of the film's leads was also the first Israeli celebrity casualty of the war, sustaining serious injuries amid the

Be'eri massacre On 7 October 2023, in the opening attacks of the Hamas-led 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel, October 7 attacks on Israel, Hamas militants carried out a massacre at Be'eri, an Israeli kibbutz near the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of Gazan militants ...

.Yadin Gellman: A soldier in the movies and in real life
''The Jerusalem Post''. 11 February 2024

Release

The film received its premiere, as part of the official competition at

in October 2023. The slated theatrical release in November 2023 was postponed due to the outbreak of the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

. It was subsequently released in Israeli theaters on 8 February 2024.

Reception

The film was praised by Allison Kaplan Sommer 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 ...

'' as "daring", "a colorful yet surprisingly complex musical that is all too relevant to today's Israel."'Victory Is a Matter of Framing': The Daring Israeli Musical Set During the Six-Day War
''Haaretz''. 7 February 2024 It won the

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 ...

for Best Music from the Israeli Film Academy, and was nominated for three other awards from the academy, including Best Sound, Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction.Awards
IMDB. Retrieved on 8 July 2024 It was also nominated for the Best Film prize at the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Victory 2023 films 2023 musical films 2020s Hebrew-language films Israeli musical films 2023 directorial debut films Works about the Six-Day War Films about post-traumatic stress disorder Musicals set in Israel