Oshri Cohen Movies

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, Rovi

The title of Joseph Cedar's war drama Beaufort refers to the name of a fortress held by Israeli troops, during that country's contentious occupation of Lebanon from 1982-2000 -- an effort that Israel roundly lost. The film itself opens at the tail end of that occupation. It follows Liraz Liberti, the then-22-year-old leader of troops occupying Beaufort, as he and his subordinates come face to face with the necessity of withdrawal. As enemy fire bombards the fortress, Liraz recognizes that it will be necessary to evacuate, obliterating the structure that his men have spent two decades defending. Oshri Cohen, Itay Tiran, Eli Eltonyo, and Ohad Knoller co-star. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A handful of soldiers take a claustrophobic journey into the heart of war in this drama from Israeli writer and director Samuel Maoz. It's June 1982, and Israel is launching an invasion of Lebanon. Four men assigned to take part in the first strike are put on the same tank detail -- Assi (Itay Tiran) is the commanding officer, Shmulik (Yoav Donat) is a gunner new to the outfit, Hertzel (Oshri Cohen) keeps the weapons loaded, and Yigal (Michael Moshonov) drives the machine. After being given their orders by Jamil (Zohar Strauss), the men set out toward the Lebanese border, recognizing little of what goes on outside beyond what can be seen through Yigal's tiny window; they occasionally stop to help fellow Israelis hurt in battle, but for the most part, they roll relentlessly onward, occasionally arguing amongst themselves, until they arrive at their destination, a town already bombed into rubble by the Israeli Air Force. Few of their allies remain in the city, putting the soldiers in a perilous situation when a band of Syrian resistance fighters lays siege to the tank. Levanone (aka Lebanon) was an official selection at the 2009 Venice International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi