Zion and His Brother

About The Film

Cascading events threaten the unshakeable loyalty of two teenage siblings in ZION AND HIS BROTHER, a sensitive coming-of-age drama set in a gritty working-class neighborhood of Haifa. Fourteen-year-old Zion (Reuven Badalov) and cocky older brother Meir (Ofer Hayun) live with their divorced mother (Ronit Elkabetz) in a dumpy apartment, and can count only on each other. After a tragic accident involving a neighborhood Ethiopian boy, the brothers react differently and are challenged by thorny questions of personal responsibility and morality. The bottled up secret, coupled with Meir's clashes with his mother's boyfriend (Tzahi Grad), stretches the bonds of fraternal allegiance to the breaking point. ZION AND HIS BROTHER is the accomplished directorial debut of Eran Merav, who was born in Haifa and now resides in Atlanta. Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.