Intimate Grammar

About The Film

In this heartbreaking adaptation of David Grossman’s poetic novel, an introverted boy is stuck in endless childhood as 1960s Israel struggles with its post-Holocaust rite of passage. Approaching Bar Mitzvah age, Aharon (a transcendent performance by Roee Elsberg) is a dreamer who seeks Houdini-like escapes from life in a seedy Jerusalem housing project. His vulgar parents (Yehuda Almagor and Orly Silbersatz Banai), overweight sister (Yael Sgerski), senile grandmother (Rivka Gur) and gossipy neighbors contribute to his arrested development. His friends mature and move on without him, including the girl he loves. Physically and emotionally stunted, Aharon retreats into his inner landscape as the Six-Day War threatens. INTIMATE GRAMMAR received ten Israeli Ophir Award nominations, and is director Nir Bergman’s (Broken Wings) follow-up feature and Jerusalem International Film Festival Best Feature Film Award winner.