An Israeli film, Where To?, will compete in the Perspectives section of the 76th Berlinale, the Berlin International Film Festival, it was announced on Tuesday, as the full lineup of festival films was revealed at a press conference.
The Berlinale is one of the largest and most prestigious festivals in the world and will take place from February 12-22 this year.
The movie, by Assaf Machnes, has the following description in the Berlinale program: “Hassan, a 55-year-old Palestinian Uber driver, shuttles partygoers through endless Berlin nights. Amir, a young Israeli who is in danger of losing himself to these nights, becomes Hassan’s regular passenger when they find themselves bonded by heartbreak.”
Hassan is portrayed by Ehab Salami, who won an Ophir Award for Best Supporting Actor for Eran Kolirin’s Let It Be Morning, and Amir is played by Ido Tako, a rising star who appeared in the Netflix movie, Mary, as well as the Israeli films, The Vanishing Soldier, Come Closer, and Youthful Grace, and the series, Black Space and The German. Dov Navon and Sarit Vino-Elad also appear in Where To?.
Machnes' script wins Berlinale award
This is Machnes’ first feature film, but it isn’t his first time at the Berlinale. He presented the screenplay at the Berlinale Screenwriters’ Incubator in 2021, and the script won an award at the Berlinale co-production program the following year. His short film, Seven Minutes, about an IDF soldier racing to finish up an assignment so he can go home for the weekend, was shown at the festival in 2016.
Machnes said, “It’s a great honor that the film is beginning its journey at the Berlin Festival. I started writing the film as part of the festival’s script lab four years ago, and throughout that time it felt like the ground never stopped shaking. It’s amazing that it’s finally possible to share this story with more people, and it’s moving that it’s happening on a stage like the Berlinale. I hope the film will move people and create space for healing.”
The film is a German-Israeli co-production, produced by Tutim Productions, the Rogovin Brothers, Lev Cinemas, and Iconoclast Films. Its co-producers include Mohammad Babaei, Yonatan Pingold, and Yulia Bedouin Pingold, and it was made with the support of the Israel Film Fund, ARTE/ZDF, and the Gesher Multicultural Film Fund. The movie will be shown in Israel at Lev Cinemas.