Galway Film Society

Footnote

Academic egos clash to witty effect in director Joseph Cedar’s (Oscar nominee for Beaufort) up-and-down tale of two Talmudic scholars at odds with one another, on both a professional and personal level. That they are father and son adds a certain frisson to the plangent goings-on. Professor Eliezer Shkolnik (Shlomo Bar Aba) has been toiling for decades, trying to collate and correct the extant not-necessarily-accurate texts of the Talmud in order to produce a definitive version. His son Uriel (Lior Ashkenazi), on the other hand, seems his opposite – a generalist who produces popular books on less arcane Talmudic pursuits. Uriel seems to crave the spotlight, while Elizier looks down his nose at such things--and the people who pursue them. Until Dad is up for a big award, that is... Vancouver International Film Festival 2011

Winner - Best Screenplay Award, Cannes Film Festival 2011 / Nominated - Best Foreign Language Film, Academy Awards 2012