Skip to main content
Karaoke film image, director Moshe Rosenthal

Karaoke

This event has passed

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 recent 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
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

Film Contact
18+
103 min
Award Winners Comedy Drama

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

The Blue Trail
The Blue Trail film image; woman admiring a giant garden sculpture of a human face

The Blue Trail

Dir. Gabriel Mascaro
86 min

In a near-future Brazil, elderly citizens are forcibly relocated to live out their days in a senior housing colony. When 77-year-old Tereza learns that she will soon be taken away, she embarks on a fantastical odyssey into the Amazon.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema Granville Island Stage

Shifting Baselines

Dir. Julien Elie
100 min

Towering rockets rise as wetlands vanish in this sly black-and-white documentary about SpaceX’s conquest of Boca Chica, Texas. With sci-fi aesthetics and observational calm, the film exposes how cosmic dreams begin with the quiet erasure of Earth.

International Village 8
A Poet
A Poet film image; man shouting while running

A Poet

Dir. Simón Mesa Soto
120 min

When embittered poet Oscar Restrepo takes a job at a local high school, he meets Yurlady, a talented student from a poor background. Seeking to help her cultivate her art, he draws her into the poetry world — to disastrous and comedic results.

International Village 9

La Salsa Vive

Dir. Juan Carvajal
103 min

An exuberant celebration of salsa that traces the genre's evolution from New York City in the 1960s and 70s to Cali, Colombia — the salsa capital of the world. Carvajal’s documentary highlights the rich legacy of this musical form and the joy it inspires.

International Village 7
Memory of Princess Mumbi
Memory of Princess Mumbi film image; two people leaning on each other sitting in a falling-apart jungle city

Memory of Princess Mumbi

Dir. Damien Hauser
80 min

Can a filmmaker depict the future without AI? Damien Hauser crafts a genre-blending Afro-speculative fable about love, war, and the future of storytelling in a resurrected African kingdom. A micro-budget epic fueled by digital invention and heart.

Fifth Avenue Cinema - 19+ only International Village 9

Winter Light

Dir. Cho Hyun-suh
90 min

Da-bin has a broke mother, a runaway brother, and a sister who’s going deaf, but gets by thanks to his best friend and caring girlfriend. Poignant and poetic, this is a film that explores the pain of adolescence and the stress of competing loyalties.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

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

Director

Moshe Rosenthal headshot, Karaoke director

Moshe Rosenthal

Moshe Rosenthal is a Tel Aviv-based writer/director. His work deals with themes of generational gaps and masculinity. After his film studies, he directed music videos and commercials, before focusing exclusively on films and television. He won Best Director at the Jerusalem Film Festival for his short film Shabaton (2016), among other international prizes. His 2016 web series, Confess, won several awards including the Grand Prix and Best Screenplay at the Marseilles Webfest. Karaoke is his debut feature.