The deceivingly peaceful Sea of Galilee is the backdrop for this story of violence, hope and the rebirth of a young man and of the people who love him.
White Panther
A film by: Danny Reisfeld
(Israel, 2013, 88 minutes, Color, Hebrew, Russian, English subtitles, Cast: Ze'ev Revach, Limor Shmila, Shachar Smith, Mor Salmon)
The deceivingly peaceful Sea of Galilee is the backdrop for this story of violence, hope and the rebirth of a young man and of the people who love him.
In the 1990's a million Jews from the USSR arrived in Israel. These immigrants dreamed of a better future but were often shunned by the local population who were suspicious of the newcomers. While many of the immigrants embraced the Israeli lifestyle, others were became angry and shut themselves off in self-made Russian ghettoes. These ghettoes were fertile ground for the creation of self-hating Jewish skinheads.
"White Panther" is the story of Alex, a young Russian immigrant, whose family falls apart after his father dies while serving in the Israeli army. In retaliation Alex joins a (skinheads') gang led by his older brother.
An unexpected meeting with David (Ze'ev Revach), a religious Moroccan Jew, gives Alex a chance to pursue his longtime dream of becoming a boxer like his father. Alex finds himself torn between his two father figures – the violent older brother and the new Jewish trainer –until he finds out the truth about those he so admires.
QUOTES
“It’s briskly, capably handled, the convincing milieu accentuated by the writer-helmer’s use of some Russian-Israeli gang members in smaller roles. Straightforward low-budget assembly has no need for higher production gloss.” - Dennis Harvey, Variety
AWARDS, FESTIVALS & SCREENNINGS
• Jerusalem FF 2013 - Feature Competition
• Montreal World Film Festival 2013
• Stamford CT, JFF 2013
• Australia JFF 2013
• Bucharest JFF 2013
• Zagreb Israeli Film Festival 2013
• Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island 2013
• East Bay JFF 2014
• Denver JFF 2014
• San Diego JFF 2014
• Athens GA JFF 2014
• Grand Rapids JFF 2014
• Honolulu Museum of Art 2014
• Greater Dayton JCC 2014
• New Jersey JFF 2014
• Edmonton JFF 2014
• Brazil Israeli Film Festival 2014