Now Playing

The Films of Nadav Lapid: Synonyms

Fri, April 1 / 9:30pm
Sun, April 3 / 2pm
Thu, April 14 / 7pm
Sat, April 16 / 7pm
Directed by Nadav Lapid
2019, France/Israel/Germany, 129 min
French, Hebrew & English w/ English subtitles

Due to technical difficulties, the April 1-3 screenings have been cancelled.

Winner of the Golden Bear at Berlinale, Synonyms features a dynamic lead performance from newcomer Tom Mercier, whose feral intensity practically bursts out of the frame. Mercier plays Yoav, a disaffected young Israeli who flees Tel Aviv for Paris to start a new life. Desperate to erase his origins, Yoav sees becoming French as his only hope for salvation. Step one is to replace his language. From now on, he will not utter a single word of Hebrew and his dictionary becomes his constant companion. His work at the Israeli embassy is a burden, but studying for his naturalization test also has its pitfalls. And the young French couple he befriends has some rather strange ideas about how to help him. Based on writer-director Nadav Lapid’s own experiences, Synonyms explores the challenges of putting down roots in a new place. Yoav’s attempts to find himself awaken past demons and open up an existential abyss in this tragicomic puzzle that wisely knows how to keep its secrets.

Israeli Identity in Motion: The Films of Nadav Lapid is generously sponsored by IATSE 856 Manitoba.

Reviews

astonishing, maddening, brilliant, hilarious, obstinate, and altogether unmissable[...]Few directors have understood the raw physicality of a movie camera better than Lapid.
- David Ehrlich, Indiewire  
That’s part of the beauty of this film: It games out very real, very human impulses to their surreal breaking points, only to uncover even greater truths.
- Bilge Ebiri, The Vulture  
It is a brilliant high-wire act. Yoav is utterly unpredictable at any given moment, and so too, is Synonyms.
- Josh Kupecki, The Austin Chronicle
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ABOUT US

The Winnipeg Film Group is an artist-run education, production, exhibition and distribution centre committed to promoting the art of cinema.
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