Snowland
Set against the backdrop of another Israeli war, in Tel Aviv, Amir and Johnny’s long time friendship is put to the test, right before their 40th birthday as they set out on a quest of self discovery. Amir is grappling with daughter’s cancer diagnosis and his crumbling marriage, as his wife issues a restraining order against him. While Johnny is coming to terms with shutting down his mythological bar and breaking up his 6 year relationship with Mickey, just as they’re about to walk down the aisle.
Both men are lost, living small lives and losing two major loves, a wife and daughter, and despite their immense pain, they’re searching for a ray of light, a smile, and a silver lining beyond the dark mountains ahead.
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Jonni ZicoltzDirectorAll In, Shtisel, Yoter Ity Mi'lev
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Jonni ZicoltzWriterAll In, Shtisel, Yoter Ity Mi'lev
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Yoval SegalWriter
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Moshe EderyProducer
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Leon EderyProducer
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Micky RabinovitzProducerFull Gas, On The Edge, All In, Gesta, Strom of Emotions
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Shlomi KoriatKey Cast"Amir"Shnot HaShmonim, Ha'Mossad
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Ori PfefferKey Cast" Johnny"Full Gas, Eli, Bullet Head
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Tali SharonKey Cast"Alona "
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Nati Kluger rosenbergKey Cast"Mikey"
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Ann BlushinskiKey Cast"Tamara"
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Shmil Ben AriKey Cast"Israel "
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Eyal ZusmanKey Cast"Rabbi Zukerman "
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Razia IsraelyKey Cast"Levana "
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Haim Oz ZnatiKey Cast"Menashe "
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Shula ChenKey Cast"Nira"
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Abraham SelektarKey Cast"Rabbi Lerer"
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Oshrat IngedashetKey Cast"Meital "
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Liron BaranesKey Cast"Attorney Ron "
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Lightstream IsraelProduction Company
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Project Title (Original Language):ארץ השלג
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Project Type:Feature
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Genres:Drama
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Runtime:1 hour 25 minutes 24 seconds
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Completion Date:December 30, 2019
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Country of Origin:Israel
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Country of Filming:Israel
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Language:Hebrew
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Shooting Format:Digital, RED
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Aspect Ratio:1:2.39
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
Distribution Information
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Light Stream Israel LTDCountry: IsraelRights: All Rights
Director, screenplay writer, actor and creator. Was born and raised in Haifa, and has been based in Tel Aviv since 1995. He directed his first film, ‘Alenby Romance’, in 2004 and has directed and written three additional films since - ‘Slower Than the Heart’ (2010), ‘All In’ (Screenplay) (2018) and ‘Snowland’ (2020). Two of his plays, ‘Gaza 17’ and ‘Srulik’, debuted at the Kameri Theater and in 2016, he created the television series ‘Kings’ for Channel 2 and the Keshet Broadcast Network. Jonni is a lector for the Israeli Film Fund and lecturer of communications, he also develops and advises on television and film on a regular basis. ‘Snowland’ will be his 3rd film as both director and writer.
As a creator you often times feel like a hunter. More often than not, hunting provides you with momentary stories that fade away just as fast as they hit you. It’s rare to come across a story that you simply can’t let go of.
‘Snowland’ belongs to that second category of stories. And it happens to be so because it’s based on a true story, Amir (the leading role is called Eyal in real life) is best freinds with Jonni, and that’s me (Jonni Zicholtz). I’ve been living with our story for almost 7 years, since Eyal’s son, Maor (in the script the character is based on Tamara), died of cancer when he was 3 years. While Maor was sick, Eyal broke off his long term relationship with Maor’s mother (the character that’s based on Alona in the script), and their relationship officially ended when Maor passed away. During which, I also broke up with a woman I was about to marry and walked out on her at the 11th hour.
With ‘Snowland’ I wanted to describe the process of two men in their late 30s, breaking down and building themselves back up again just as their about to hit their 40 year old crisis. They’re great friends that find themselves facing a huge crisis, one that raises a lot of questions about the lives they’ve lived, their dwindling libidos and the decisions they’ve made at major crossroads in their lives that turned out to be disastrous. Two men that are living small lives and losing two major loves, a wife and daughter. And despite their immense pain, they’re searching for a ray of light, a smile, and the silver lining beyond the dark mountains ahead. The two leading characters of this film aren’t heroic or strong, they’re not about to save anyone, perhaps just themselves. And maybe their friendship, which is the only thing they have left.
As a filmmaker, you get a shot once every 4 or 5 years to tell a story, ‘Snowland’ is the story I’ve chosen to tell this time and it’s without a doubt, my most personal film yet. Maor’s death was such a terrible blow, a pain that can never heal and this film is dedicated to his memory. But what I wanted to focus on primarily in the film was male friendship and how you cope with it during difficult times, when it seems as if it’s about to completely fall apart after so many years of friendship, while having to come to terms with myself, looking inwards and accepting who I am, with growing older, but still maintaining my inner child but also learning to take responsibility and committing without running away, just as I’m about to turn 40 years old, the age in which they say men face their biggest crisis. The film is a journey of redemption of two men, two kids, two best friends.