Shemi Zarhin Movies

A melancholy Israeli flight attendant finds new meaning in life on her quest to reunite a six year-old Chinese boy nicknamed Noodle with his missing mother. Miri (Mili Avital) is a two-time war widow who has long since lost her lust for life and spends most days simply going through the motions. Miri lives with her sister Gila (Anat Waxman), who is currently wrestling with the troublesome prospect of ending her marriage to her husband Izzy (Alon Aboutboul). One day, upon returning home from work, Miri is recruited by the family's Chinese housekeeper (Vicky Lyn) to watch her young son as she runs an important errand. When the housekeeper mysteriously fails to return, however, Miri and her trusty airline coworkers make it their mission on life to reunite mother and son though whatever means possible. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A teenager discovers he may be a genius, which turns out to be a less-than-welcome surprise to his family, in this comedy-drama from Israel. Shlomi (Oshri Cohen) is a 17-year-old boy who has unwittingly become the most important member of his household -- with his mildly-paranoid father (Albert Illouz) divorced from his mother (Esti Zakhem), busy supporting the family as a nurse. Shlomi cheerfully looks after his aging grandfather, cooks the meals, keeps tabs on his brother, Doron (Jonathan Rozen), and tries to keep the house clean. With so much going on, Shlomi doesn't have much time for (or interest in) his schoolwork, and he's more preoccupied with his girlfriend Tehila (Rotem Zisman) and his efforts to move their relationship to the next level; however, Shlomi's math teacher (Nisso Khavia) discovers that Shlomi has a rare gift for working with numbers and is eager to transfer him to another school where he can hone this talent. But Shlomi's family resists the idea, partly because they're not sure if he can do the work and partly because they don't want to see the family's anchor go away. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The first feature for an Israeli director of documentaries, television dramas, and children's shows, Sodot Mishpaha (Family Secrets) is an unusual love story between 14-year-old Rivi and her cousin living in the U.S., 15-year-old Shauli. The two youngsters meet every summer at their grandparents and one summer discover the pains of first love. Uncle Alfred, a rich and mysterious Holocaust survivor walks in on their first lovemaking; he brutally chases Rivi out and stays with Shauli. That night he is found dead in his room. Seventeen years later, the grandfather dies and leaves the estate to Rivi, who is now thirty and divorced, and to Shauli, who is married to an American. The reunion of the cousins brings back the memories of that horrifying and enchanting summer. Rivi is shocked but relieved to hear that, although Shauli intended to kill the uncle with a knife, he found him hanging when he arrived in his room; 17 years of remorse and anguish is suddenly released. Sodot Mishpaha was screened at the 1999 Festival of Films-Mumbai .

~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

The stories of three Israeli women in varying stages of desperation and hysteria are depicted in this anthology. The first segment, "Sharona Honey," closely follows the difficulties suffered by a particularly lovely woman who is being ardently pursued by a quartet of men, all of whom want her to bear their child - none of them with the slightest interest in discovering who she is. In "Operation Cat," a recently separated woman frantically tries to get the authorities to remove the obstacles which prevent a kitten from being rescued from a sewer. "Divorce" shows just how far an aggrieved policewoman will go to prevent her husband from skipping out of the country without giving her a divorce. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide