Friday, November 29 | 5:30 & 8:30 pm
Saturday, November 30 | 2, 5:30 & 8:30 pm
“Loosely based on director Nadav Lapid’s (The Kindergarten Teacher, Policeman) own experiences, Synonyms follows young Israeli ex-soldier Yoav (played by newcomer Tom Mercier, in an incredible performance), who moves to Paris hoping to escape his national identity. After his first night, Yoav wakes up naked in an empty apartment with all of his belongings gone, and is soon taken in by a neighboring, young, wealthy couple (Quentin Dolmaire of My Golden Days and Lover for a Day’s Louise Chevillotte). Armed with a pocket-sized French dictionary, Yoav refuses to speak his native Hebrew as he desperately tries to immerse himself in French society. Living on only a few francs a day, he bounces from job to job on a wildly erratic journey, attempting to assimilate into a seemingly impenetrable culture. Winner of the 2019 Berlin Film Festival’s highest honor, Lapid’s lucid assault against nationhood asks if individuals can ever be fully extricated from the society into which they were born. While Synonyms is loaded with ideas about identity, both personal and national, it’s the intense emotional impact of Yoav’s experiences that resonate so strongly.” -TIFF
Director Nadav Lapid | 2019 | In English and French and Hebrew with English subtitles | 123 minutes | NR | DCP
