Today, the new film “The Vanishing Soldier” (German title: “Der verschwundene Soldat”) by Dani Rosenberg is released in German cinemas. In addition to the original Hebrew version, UCM.ONE presents the film for the first time in a German dubbed version on the label Artkeim².
The film, about Shlomi, an 18-year-old Israeli IDF soldier who disobeys orders by fleeing from the troops fighting in the Gaza Strip to his girlfriend in Tel Aviv, is the second feature film by Israeli director Dani Rosenberg (born 1979). The film is an impressive, poetic and existential portrait of young people in Israel, a young generation that is confronted with the permanent state of national defense and war.
Summary
At dawn, after a combat mission in the Gaza Strip, Shlomi Aharonov, an 18-year-old infantry soldier in the Golani Brigade, leaves his unit and the troop by simply running away. His path initially leads him to his parents’ house in the settlement of Sde Uziel in the countryside. He does not meet his parents. When soldiers appear in front of the house, apparently wanting to see his parents, Shlomi flees with a bicycle. Eventually, he gets to Tel Aviv, where he visits his girlfriend Shiri at work, on a military bus in which he can travel unrecognized.
When Shlomi learns that the military command is convinced that he was abducted in the chaos of war, he no longer hides from the soldiers he thought were after him, but from his own identity, which has become a trap. Despite his parents’ pleas to return to his unit before it’s too late, Shlomi takes a desperate risk on love – with dramatic consequences. This tragicomic journey, set over the course of 24 hours in the hot and humid streets of Tel Aviv, moves from horror to hope, from romance to nightmare.
The film celebrated its world premiere at the 76th Locarno Film Festival and received 11 nominations at the Ophir Awards, including “best film”. “The Vanishing Soldier” was screened at major German film festivals, including Filmfest Hamburg and the 30th Jewish Film Festival Berlin Brandenburg (JFBB). At JFBB 2024, lead actor Ido Tako received the ‘Best Newcomer Actor’ award.
About Dani Rosenberg (Director und co-writer)
Born in 1979 in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israel, he studied at the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem, graduating with honors in 2006.
The short films “Don Kishot be’Yerushalaim” (2005) and “Susya” (2011) were shown at the Berlin International Film Festival. After working on the medium-length film “Homeland” (2008) and various television series, his feature film “ The Death of Cinema and My Father Too” (2020) was selected for the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival 2020 and won the Haggiag Film Prize at the Jerusalem Film Festival 2020.
His award-winning short films have been screened at renowned international film festivals, including Cannes Cinéfondation Competition, Berlinale, Clermont Ferrand, HotDocs and IDFA.
His acclaimed TV series “Milk & Honey” was successfully adapted in Germany and France. Dani Rosenberg co-wrote a documentary film, “Zohar, The Return,” and co-adapted Sholem Asch‘s “God of Vengeance” for Israel’s leading theater, “The Cameri,” in 2018. “The Vanishing Soldier” is Dani Rosenberg‘s second feature-length film.
Data about the movie
| Title: |
The Vanishing Soldier
|
| Origina tilte: |
החייל הנעלם
|
| Director: | Dani Rosenberg |
| Script/book: |
Dani Rosenberg, Amir Klinger
|
| Producer: |
Avraham Pirchi, Chilik Michaeli, Itamar Pirchi, Leon Edery, Moshe Edery
|
| Actors: |
Ido Tako, Mika Reiss, Efrat Ben Tzur, Tikva Dayan, Shmulik Cohen, Yariv Horowitz, Seif Nabul, Mushy Vider
|
| Cinematography: |
David Stragmeister
|
| Editing: |
Nili Feller
|
| Country | Israel |
| Year of production: | 2023 |
| Producer: |
Israel Film Fund, United Channel Movies
|
| Genres: |
Drama, Thriller, War
|
| Lenght: | 98 Min |
| Language: |
Hebrew, English (original languages), German dubbed version |
| Subtitles: | English, German |
| Aspect Ratio: |
2,39:1 (2048×858)
|
| Sound: |
5.1 Surround (DCP)
|
| FSK: | 12 |
Reactions to the film
“In its rousing, restless form, the film finds an image for the all-too-understandable insecurity of young people who have been given a weapon. In this way, it has become a universally readable anti-war film.” (Frankfurter Rundschau)
“Between the two poles of a love story and a political drama, director Dani Rosenberg weaves a complex, multi-layered portrait of Israeli society in »The Disappeared Soldier«.” (Jüdische Allgemeine)
“The Disappeared Soldier does not relativize the suffering of one side with that of the other. His aim is to observe a deadlocked situation in which his characters react with patriotic glorification, fear and self-doubt, and paralyzed opportunism.” (Der Freitag)
“Between the two poles of a love story and a political drama, director Dani Rosenberg weaves a complex, multi-layered portrait of Israeli society, which is caught in an equally bipolar state: the longing for unconditionality (love) is always juxtaposed with a deep existential threat. Tomorrow it could all be over.” (Filmdienst)
“The young director Dani Rosenberg stages a pulsating drama with a clear position, an anti-war film that describes the Middle East conflict from an Israeli point of view and sharply criticizes the settlement policy of its own government. He shows that the cracks not only go through Israeli society, but also affect families and circles of friends of a generation that grew up in the middle of the conflict.” (EPD)
“The Vanishing Soldier” brilliantly captures the decisive moment when everything changes, when martial patriotism disintegrates into an awareness of the unbearable. A film that is as pessimistic as it is optimistic, at exactly the right time to ask the big questions of our time. (Culturopoing.com)
“Written and shot between 2022 and 2023, director Dani Rosenberg’s portrait of a lost youth deals with the suppressed reality of the occupation and religious fanaticism in Israel and Palestine. The massacre of October 7 and the Gaza war naturally give the film a completely different relevance.” (arte)
More information about the movie: The Vanishing Soldier
Further information about the film: Artkeim²
