Skip to main content
Karaoke film image, director Moshe Rosenthal

Movie theatres usually discourage talking but our latest series is designed to encourage it — before and after (not during) the show. Aimed at film lovers 55+, Talking Pictures offers audience-friendly festival films, refreshments, and an open invitation to chat about our shared experience of the movie. Tickets are just $10. Bring a buddy and get two tickets for $16!

Talking Pictures happens the last Tuesday of the month, 11:00 am, at the most comfortable theatre in the city, the VIFF Centre.

Meir (Sasson Gabay) is slumping towards retirement and no longer has any fight in him. When the new guy in the penthouse suite double parks in front of Meir’s car, well, it just sums up the kind of day/week/life he’s having. But Itsik (Lior Ashkenazi) apologizes profusely and insists Meir and his wife Tova (Rita Shukrun) come up for a glass of wine. Turns out Itsik isn’t just rich and successful, he’s also charming and gregarious. Under the bright wattage of his attentive smile, Meir and Tova start to feel better about themselves and imagine a new chapter is possible.

Moshe Rosenthal’s comedy of vanities (the Audience Award winner at the Jerusalem Film Festival) has a deft, light touch, but hits harder than you might expect. That’s down to a sharp, keen script, and to the excellence of the performances—with special mention reserved for Gabay, who shows us a decent, downtrodden man willing to do almost anything (karaoke!) to recover his self-respect. That this is a grave error of judgment should go without saying.

Director

Moshe Rosenthal

Cast

Sasson Gabay, Lior Ashkenazi, Rita Shukrun, Arie Tcherner, Kobi Farag, Michal Levi

Credits
Country of Origin

Israel

Year

2022

Language

In Hebrew with English subtitles

Awards

Four Ophir (Israeli Academy) Awards including Best Actor, Best Actress; Audience Award, Jerusalem Film Festival

19+
103 min

Book Tickets

Tuesday May 27

11:00 am
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Credits

Executive Producer

Yaron Bloch, Ben Giladi, Michal Vermus, Roni El-Roy, Dubi Rubinstein, Raz Yosef, Reuven Hecker

Producer

Efrat Cohen, Iris Ben-Moshe

Screenwriter

Moshe Rosenthal

Cinematography

Daniel Miller

Editor

Dafi Farbman

Production Design

Ido Dolev

Original Music

Gal Lev, Lior Perla

Also Playing

The Lunchbox

Dir. Ritesh Batra
104 min

In the first of our new monthly film series for 55+, a modern classic rom-com from India. Enjoy the movie and stay for refreshments and informal chat.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Second Mother

Dir. Anna Muylaert
112 min

Humane, humorous and critically astute, this firm festival favourite from 2015 features a wonderful performance from Regina Casé as a nanny and housekeeper in São Paolo who begins to reevaluate her life when she's reunited with her teen daughter.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Teacher

Dir. Farah Nabulsi
118 min

In this potent thriller, English teacher Basem witnesses the murder of a teenager by a Israeli settler. While the subsequent investigation rolls slowly towards a foregone conclusion, the teacher is caught up in a parallel kidnapping case...

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Bob Trevino Likes It

Dir. Tracie Laymon
102 min

When her toxic, narcissistic dad cuts her out of his life, Lily Trevino looks him up on Facebook and happens across his namesake, Bob (John Leguizamo), a gentle, genial contractor who lives nearby, and who proves an altogether better dad...

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre