Experiencing Interruptions?

Sick !

Tom and his sister Meirav meet up with Haïm Bouzaglo, a famous Israeli film director they know nothing about, in a cafe in Tel Aviv during one of Tom's visits to his family in Israel. Haïm proposes a role to Tom in his next movie. Tom is sceptical at first but he then realises Haïm’s notoriety when both his whimsical mother and his father won’t stop talking about Haïm. Tom decides to look into Haïm’s films and immediately becomes a big admirer of his work. Then, when Haïm offers a screenwriter mission to Tom on a new project of his, Tom is over the moon. The writing process will prove to be harder than expected, and when Haïm decides to challenge Tom to write the entire film script in 14 days, a race against the clock begins that will force Tom to become resourceful while also dealing with his extravagant, colourful, and invasive family, to try his best to finish writing the script in time.

  • Rotem Jackman
    Director
  • Rotem Jackman
    Writer
  • Salam Jawad
    Producer
  • Ido Shaked
    Key Cast
    "Tom"
  • Haïm Bouzaglo
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Bila Toren
    Key Cast
    "Dina, the mother"
  • Meirav Dahan
    Key Cast
    "Meirav, the sister"
  • Oded Amit
    Key Cast
    "Youda, the father"
  • Arnaud Vanpepestraete
    Key Cast
    "Arnaud"
  • Thomas Migevant
    Director of Photography
  • Thomas Van Pottelberge
    Sound
  • Cédric Le Doré
    Sound
  • Baptiste Petit-Gats
    Editing
  • Benoît Hery
    Mixing
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Grave !
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    24 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 1, 2021
  • Country of Origin:
    France
  • Country of Filming:
    France, Israel
  • Language:
    French, Hebrew
  • Shooting Format:
    35 mm
  • Aspect Ratio:
    256:135
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Shoham film Festival
    Online
    Israel
    June 14, 2022
    International Premiere
    Best Director
  • Near Nazareth Film Festival
    Afula
    Israel
    Semi-Finalist
  • Around Film Festival
    Barcelona
    Spain
    September 8, 2022
    FESTREGARDS - Around Film Festival
    Staff Picks (Winner)
Director Biography - Rotem Jackman

Rotem Jackman grew up in the entertainment business on both side of the stage or the camera. From the age of 13 until 18, he regularly performs with a troup of former members and boarders of the Comédie-Française. He then studies for 5 years with Jean-Laurent Cochet, before starting his training abroad (New York, London, Berlin). Then, as the manager of the « Les Franglaises » troup (Molière 2015 for best musical theater) from 2011 to 2018, he becomes an artistic producer (Montreux Comedy Festival, Les Trois Baudets, Théâtre de Dix Heures), writes for the theater (Indomptables ! au Dix Heures), writes and directs for the cinema (short film “Grave !”, feature film in en pre-production“Hétéro”), directs a play (“Le Passager de la Terre” at the Théâtre libre ex-Comédia) and continues to regularly appear on screen and on stage (TV series “Riviera”, feature film “Ombres et Lumières”, play “Le Passager de la Terre”). “Grave !” is his first short film.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Meeting with Salam Jawad, coproducer of the film, made us both realize we had strong values in common: important family values and I wished to depict mine, as crazy as it looks, and make it the subject of this film.

My family is franco-Israeli, an odd patchwork of two cultures. The context of the film is particular and the characters are colorful. We shot in Tel Aviv , which has such a particular and poetic atmosphere with a mix of luxurious nature, abandoned buildings , with a touch of contemporary modernity. With a Bahaus inspired architecture from the 1920s in Bialik street, the sweetness of life contrasts with the political tension there and we feel this contrast in Dina’s words, the mother.

I truly intended to depict the colorfulness of my family here: Two parents who speak an approximate french, children who live half of the time in Israel and the other half in France, speaking both Hebrew and French perfectly. The mother, even though she’s a bit conservative,smokes therapeutic cannabis to heal her leg following a stroke and spends her nights eating sweets and laughing in front of the TV in a vibrant never-sleeping Tel Aviv. Like all jewish mothers, she laughs about everything, the good and the bad, and even about her pains. She is fascinating and plays a central role in the family. The father separated from the mother, lives a few meters away and shows up unannounced whenever he sees fit. There are old and deep-rooted tensions between the father and the rest of the family but everyone’s relationship stays superficial and light, in appearance at least, as, for example, they kiss each other on the mouth to greet each other.

In the middle of all this, Tom, our protagonist, is searching for himself. He just got the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to prove himself as an author working with Haim Bouzaglo, to solve his money issue and to be recognised. He exists in this family of strong personalities, whom he loves very much but who will interfere with his goals despite their love for one another.
He is like a powerless spectator of his own story. He is endearing and clumsy but wants to do good and people who are often experiencing doubt will easily identify with Tom.