Do you ever look back on the past and wonder how things
might have been different?
Director/producer/scriptwriter Eli Cohen looks at this subject in his latest feature film, Hora
79. This is a nostalgic, wonderful film
about the members of a dance troupe, now a group of middle-aged men and women. In creating an homage to Israeli
folk-dancing, they get together to dance the debka and hora as they did 33
years before.
The troupe broke up years ago following what was apparently
a tragic accident. When everyone gets back
together to rehearse, there is tension, nostalgia, and plenty of guilt to go around.
As the memories surface and the
betrayals become clear, members of the troupe rebuild relationships, tell
stories, and many try to hide details about their tragic lives. The depth of the individual stories is
surprising; the characters are diverse and realistic; and the dance scenes are
wonderful!
Filmmaker Eli Cohen is well-known for his previous feature
films -- Summer of Aviya (1988) and its sequel Under the Domim Tree (1995), and
his first feature film, Ricochets (1986), which was produced as a training film
for the Israeli army and was shot on location in Southern Lebanon. The latter prizewinning film deals with the
War in Lebanon and was originally conceived as a series of discussion films for
soldiers on issues of moral ambiguity.
available from: Eli Cohen, cohenelik@gmail.com or Slonim
Film Production. In the U.S., the film is available from Israeli Films.
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