Yona

by Nir Bergman

Yona

Synopsis

Yona is based on the turbulent life story of Yona Wallach, one of the greatest poets ever to have written in the Hebrew language. The film focuses on the early ‘60s, a period in Wallach’s life after her father has died and in which she is still a young, rural woman. She is making her first steps in the world of Hebrew poetry, battling for recognition in an environment that is chauvinistic, male-dominated and already replete with generations of bad blood. After her breakthrough and inevitable transition from the countryside to the big city, Yona – who is intent on testing her own limits and experiencing as much as possible – suffers a mental breakdown. At the time, mental patients were treated with LSD: a procedure that didn’t exactly improve their condition, to say the least. The film centres on her struggle to resume writing and attain immortality by becoming part of the canon of Hebrew poetry – along with the price she was willing to pay to achieve this.

Director

Nir Bergman was born in Haifa (Israel) in 1969. In 1998, he graduated with honours from the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem. Bergman is now an acclaimed film and television director and writer. One of his biggest successes to date is Broken Wings (2002), which he wrote and directed. Among the many awards the film received were the Grand Prix Award for Best Film at the 2002 Tokyo International Film Festival and the Panorama Audience Award at the 2003 Berlin International Film Festival. Bergman was co-creator, co-writer and co-director of the well-known television series In Treatm ent, which was bought and adapted by HBO and sold worldwide. Yona is his third feature.

Cast

Yona - Naomi Levov
Moked - Shalom Michaelashvili
Amos - Itamar Rothchild
Yair - Michael Moshonov

Crew

Director: Nir Bergman
Screenwriter: Dita Guery and Nir Bergman
Based on the novel Yona Wall ach by Igal Sarna
Producers: Chilik Michaeli, Michael Eckelt, Tami Leon, Avraham Pirchi,
Moshe Eder y and Leon Edery
Director of Photography: Lutz Reitemeier
Film Editor: Ayala Bengad
Production Designer: Avi Avivi
Original Score: Avi Belleli
Costume Designer: Michal Dor & Inbal Rozental
Make-up Artist: Karin Geva
Art Director: Dorit Ben Shoshan
Visual Effects: Dani Cohen
Casting: Limor Shmila
Sound Recordist: Steffen Graubaum
Sound Designer and Mix: Shelly Bar-On
Produced by: UCM & Riva Filmproduktion GmbH
With the support of The Israel Film Fund, The Jerusalem Film & TV Fund, MFG Filmförderung Baden-Württemberg, The Israel Fund for Film Production

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