A Gem of a Film About Boys at Risk in Tel Aviv

Children of Nobody, directed by Erez Tadmor, just opened in Israeli cinemas.  I rushed to see it because the filmmaker, Erez Tadmor, is a well-known award-winning director/scriptwriter, known for A Matter of Size (co-directed with Sharon Maymon, 2009) and Strangers (co-directed with Guy Nattiv, 2007, and previously reviewed on this blog).

The film is a surprising gem.  Why surprising?  Because I had clearly unfounded expectations from a film about youth at risk in Tel Aviv.  I expected it to be gritty and filled with violence.  But I was happily surprised to discover a story of charm and grace.

Margalit (played by Tikki Dayan) runs a shelter for boys at risk in the Neve Tzedek area of south Tel Aviv.  The shelter is built on a plot of land which developers are chomping at the bit to get their hands on.  The gentrification of the old neighborhood becomes an issue in the film, and we see how it impacts on the poor and especially the boys, who have nowhere else to call home.

Although Margalit is a loving figure and runs the place like a home, she is worried about the welfare of her more than a dozen boys, and is strict when necessary.  The boys range in age from Benny, who is still wetting his bed, to Yossi, who is turning 18, and hoping to be drafted soon. Their stories are sad stories, including Roman’s – he says his mother put out cigarettes on his arm and he describes it as a railroad track. As a result, he has become a petty thief, which adds tension to the film, every time the police show up to look for him.

Margalit is assisted in running the shelter by Jacky, the handyman, who himself grew up there and has never left.  One day Jacky discovers that the place is in danger of closing, and he decides to take radical steps to prevent that from happening.  He is assisted in his shenanigans, unwittingly, by a lovely French social worker and an aging lawyer, both responsible in different ways, for the shelter. 

The film actually focuses on Jacky, who isn’t the sharpest tool in the box, but turns out to be an intriguing and compelling character.  I highly recommend this film!