The Sensitive Film ”For My Father”

Hili Yalon and Shredi Jabarian star in Dror Zahavi’s film “For My Father.” Photo Courtesy Sof Savua B’Tel Aviv

Dror Zahavi’s film “For My Father,” which played during the L.A. Israeli Film Festival in June, clearly was influenced by Hany Abu-Assad’s “Paradise Now.” It, too, sensitively handles the grim circumstances of a prospective suicide bomber. In fact, the film includes some laugh-provoking scenes.

Shredi Jabarian is cast as Tarek, the would-be bomber. At times this brooding young actor resembles a Palestinian Joaquin Phoenix, and when he breaks into a smile he’s devastatingly handsome.

In Tel Aviv on his deathly mission, Tarek is given a second chance when his explosive vest fails to detonate and he must wait one day to obtain a new device. He befriends Karen (Hili Yalon), who is estranged from her Orthodox Jewish family.

As Tarek interacts with Romanian immigrants in a low-rent Tel Aviv neighborhood, viewers learn of the events leading to Tarek’s decision to take the lives of Israelis along with his own. The question is, will he follow through or choose life?

“For My Father” will play at Israeli film festivals in New York from Oct. 21 to Nov. 5 and in Miami Dec. 8 to 17.

   —Pat McDonnell Twair