America (2022 film)

America is a 2022 romantic drama film written and directed by Ofir Raul Graizer. It follows a swimming coach, who returns to Israel from the United States after his father's death, and his childhood friend's fiancée, who is a florist.

The film premiered in competition at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, as did Graizer's previous film The Cakemaker, on 5 July 2022. It is also set to screen in competition at the Jerusalem Film Festival in July 2022.

Cast

 * Oshrat Ingedashet as Iris
 * Michael Moshonov as Eli
 * Ofri Biterman as Yotam
 * Moni Moshonov as Moti
 * Irit Sheleg as Orna
 * Evelyn Shafir as Dr. Margarita
 * Ruba Blal Asfour as Dr. Ruba
 * Lukas Henri Kropat as Josh
 * Or Butbul as Moshiko

Production
Graizer conceived of the film in Chicago when he visited the United States for the first time when The Cakemaker was invited to a festival. According to Graizer, the title America symbolises "a place of longing" and "a distant dream" he had as a child growing up in Israel in the 1980s.

The film was shot in 2020 in Tel Aviv and Berlin. Graizer's husband Daniel Kossow, a production designer and florist, designed the flower shop.

Reception
Neil Young of Screen International wrote, "while heart-tugging sentiment is not entirely shunned ... it is handled with sufficient tact and sensitivity to heighten rather than cheapen the story's overall impact." Young found the title incongruous with the film's "engagingly genial, straightforward air". Guy Lodge of Variety wrote that the film "braids blunt melodramatic storytelling with a softer, more searching look at conflicted identity", adding, "If the film isn't always narratively credible, it's sincerely felt to the last."