FILM DAYS limited edition – 21 – 23 April 2023

FILMS 2019: A – E | F – L | M – P | Q – S | T –  Z | Feature Film | Short Film
FILMS 2018: A – E | F – L | M – P | Q – S | T –  Z | Feature Film | Short Film
FILMS 2017: A – E | F – L | M – P | Q – S | T –  Z | Feature Film | Short Film
FILMS 2016: A – E | F – L | M – P | Q – S | T –  Z | Feature Film | Short Film
FILMS 2015: A – E | F – L | M – P | Q – S | T –  Z | Feature Film | Short Film

Farewell Party, The (2015 Feature Film)

Sharon Maymon | Tal Granit | Germany, Israel | 2014 | 90 min | Hebrew

An older married couple in an old people’s home in Jerusalem see friends and acquaintances suffering unnecessarily in the last days of their lives. They decide to take action. A pitch-black comedy on friendship and farewells, which took the audience award in Venice.
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This drama, contrary and sensitive in equal parts and featuring some well-timed comic relief, won the Audience Award in Venice. To help a terminally ill friend, a group of friends build a little self-euthanasia machine in strictest secrecy in an old people’s home in Jerusalem. Other sufferers quickly become interested. One woman is against such self-euthanasia practices, but revises her opinion when she begins to show the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease.

Thanks to inspired acting by icons of the Israeli comedy genre, this potentially somber topic never becomes too heavy. This ‘dramedy’ dares tackle the ethical issues surrounding the right to a dignified death, handling it with a light touch but without oversimplifying. The directors make a joke about whether it is permissible to play God in the opening scene already. Alongside pithy dialogues and visual humor, the makers also include a surreal singing scene about the desire for a better place.

Place: The Cinemas 1

Date: 27 March 2015

Time: 18:45

Duration: 1:45

Place: The Cinemas 1

Date: 28 March 2015

Time: 10:15

Duration: 1:45

Place: The Cinemas 1

Date: 29 March 2015

Time: 16:15

Duration: 1:45

Year in
Festival

2015

Director

Sharon Maymon
Tal Granit

Camera

Tobias Hochstein

Cast

Ze’ev Revah
Levana Finkelshtein
Aliza Rozen
Ilan Dar
Rafael Tabor

Country

Germany
Israel

Editor

Einat Glaser Zarhin

Language

Hebrew

Length

90 min

Music

Avi Belleli

Producer

Talia Kleinhendler
Osnat Handelsman-Keren
Haim Mecklberg
Estee Yacov-Mecklberg

Production Company

Pie Films Ltd.
2-Team Productions Ltd.

Production Design

Arad Sawat

Sales

Beta Cinema

Scenario

Sharon Maymon
Tal Granit

Sound Design

Aviv Aldema

Year of Production

2014

Website

www.betacinema.com/farewellparty

Sharon MAYMON (1973, Israel) graduated from the Camera Obscura College of Arts in Tel Aviv. After making a number of short films, she co-directed her first feature, A Matter of Size, with Erez Tadmor. In 2006 she teamed up with Tal Granit to write and direct Mortgage, winner of the Best Drama Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival. They partnered again on two shorts, To Kill a Bumblebee in 2009 and Summer Vacation in 2012. In 2010, the duo won the Best Pitch Award at the Berlinale for the script of My Sweet Euthanasia, on which The Farewell Party is based. The film won the People’s Choice Award at the 2014 edition of Venice International Film Festival’s Venice Days.

Tal GRANIT (1969, Israel) graduated from Jerusalem’s Sam Spiegel Film School. In 2006, he teamed up with Sharon Maymon to write and direct Mortgage, winner of the Best Drama Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival. They partnered again on two shorts, To Kill a Bumblebee in 2009 and Summer Vacation in 2012. In 2010, the duo won the Best Pitch Award at the Berlinale for the script of My Sweet Euthanasia, on which The Farewell Party is based. The film won the People’s Choice Award at the 2014 edition of Venice International Film Festival’s Venice Days.

 

Filmography

Sharon MAYMON: Mortgage (2006, TV, co-dir), A Matter of Size (2009, co-dir), To Kill a Bumblebee (2009, short, co-dir), Summer Vacation (2012, short, co-dir), The Farewell Party (2014, co-dir) Tal GRANIT: Mortgage (2006, TV, co-dir), To Kill a Bumblebee (2009, short, co-dir), Summer Vacation (2012, short, co-dir), The Farewell Party (2014, co-dir)