Nony Geffen has just begun shooting his new film Out of the Deep (in Hebrew: “LaTzet Mehabotz” – literally ‘get out of the mud,’ colloquially, ‘get out of this mess’) on locations in Tel Aviv and the South of Israel. Itai Tamir’s Laila Films, who produced Geffen’s indie-spirited Not In Tel Aviv, will produce the film.
Not In Tel Aviv, Geffen’s debut feature, was a very different player on the Israeli film field, and I really liked it! The film’s protagonist Micha (Nony Geffen), a 29 year old history teacher, is “a rebel without a cause for the 21st century. Declaring its fictionality in bold black and white, the film sends this suburban cowboy on a journey of self-discovery … in this age of uncertainty, where thirty is the new sixteen.” (Read more about Not In Tel Aviv here)
There was an autobiographical feel to the first film, enhanced by the writer/director starring in the lead role. In referring to a sense of personal narrative I don’t mean to imply a connection to Geffen’s personal life story, but rather to his ability to capture the sensibility of this place and time, what it’s like to be an almost-mature adult in Israeli culture.
In this new film, Geffen will portray Nony, a 30 year old university student, who shares an apartment with Rotem, a musician, and is in secretly in love with Hadas (Gaya Traub). Happily for this writer, Geffen continues his romance with Israeli music. Not in Tel Aviv featured a soundtrack by Uzi Ramirez, with singer/songwriter Rotem Bar Or (The Angelcy) in the cast. Bar Or’s song Giant Heart is a bittersweet theme for the film, and a favorite song of mine. Here, the talented Dudu Tassa, whose music merges the contemporary and traditional, will play the part of the flat mate Rotem – sounds very promising to me. The intriguing cast includes Makram Khoury, rocker Zeev Tene, Kobi Farag, Gilat Ankori, and German actress Bea Brocks.
The film focuses very much on the here and now of Israel, it is set around the time of “Operation Protective Edge” (July 8 – August 26, 2014). Nony is called to reserve duty, and returns from the trauma of combat a changed man. Under the care of a military psychiatrist (Yossi Marshak), and with the support of his parents, he slowly returns, but not quite to himself. He is convinced that he is Amnon, his musician uncle who was killed in the Yom Kippur War, and begins performing, even though he has no musical training. It is then that he encounters Hadas, his secret love, once more.
Something to look forward to…
Out of the Deep
Production company- Laila Films
Director/ Screenwriter- Nony Geffen
Producer – Itai Tamir
Cinematographer- Ziv Berkovich
Editor- Shira Hochman
Cast – Nony Geffen, Makram Jkhuory, Gilat Ankori, Dudu Tasa, Kobi Farag, Gaya Traub, Bea Brocks, Yossi Marshak, Dvir Benedek, Zeev Tene, Varda Ben Hur, Ela Armoni, Irit Natan Benedek, Moran Martziano, Tom Hagi, Gal Hoiberger, Tamar Caravan, Yuval Robichek.
Film Funds: Israel Film Fund, Kosovo Film fund. An official co-production Israel-Kosovo.
