Thursday, April 26th - 7:00 pm - Riverview Theater Saturday, April 28th - 11:00 am - Bell Auditorium   Director: Dror Shaul While the Israeli kibbutz has been idealized as a paragon of utopian movements, Sweet Mud tells a darker, more nuanced tale of a community ill-equipped to cope with individuality and deviations from a rigidly defined norm, and of an adolescent boy stretching to compensate for what the collective cannot provide.

Amidst lush fields and the idyllic landscape of a kibbutz in 1974, 12-year-old Dvir is entering his bar mitzvah year -- a time for many initiations and trials. Dvir’s father is dead, his brother is away in the army, and his mother, Miri, suffers from emotional instability. While the collective handles the practical needs of every family, the intangible moral support one expects from a close-knit cooperative is scarce, and Dvir is left to care for beautiful, fragile Miri. When Miri’s kindly boyfriend, Stephan, arrives from Switzerland, it seems that Miri, blissfully in love, may actually recover. But the “kibbutzniks,” already resentful of a “noncontributing” guest, cast Stephan out after he tussles with another resident to defend Dvir. The loss shatters Miri and Dvir must pick up the pieces. (Caroline Libresco)

Sweet Mud was Israel’s Foreign Language entry for the 2006 Oscars.

Cast: Tomer Steinhof, Ronit Yudkevitz, Shai Avivi and Pini Tavger

In French & Hebrew with English subtitles, Israel/Germany/Japan, 90 minutes, 2006, 35mm

Presented by: Riverview Wine Bar