Ahed's Knee

Israeli filmmaker and artist, Y., arrives in a small town in the arid Arava Valley, where he has been invited to present one of his films. Upon arrival, he meets Yahalom, a deputy director of the Ministry of Culture’s library department and avid admirer of Y. and his work. The pair engage in a constant back and forth, intellectually, physically, and emotionally. The vast, barren desert of the small town is artistically double-captured by Y.’s phone and the camerawork of the film. As a devoted filmmaker, Y. values the honest content of his films, and when the government attempts to censor his work, he pushes back. Will he agree to conform to government-sanctioned topics, going against his own beliefs? Brazen, and oftentimes brash, the film addresses the battle between an artist’s own morals and larger political agendas, while touching on themes of recurring trauma and violence.

Directed by Nadav Lapid

2021 | Israel, France, Germany | Hebrew language with English subtitles | DCP