Aliyah

France 2012

Dir.: Elie Waejman

Pro.: Lola Gans

Sc.: Elie Wajeman, Gaëlle Macé

DP.: David Chizallet

Ed.: François Quiqueré

Festivals: Cannes

Cast: Pio Marmai, Cedric Kahn, Adele Haenel

Source: Rezo, Paris

90 min., French, Hebrew and English subtitles

Paris. Alex is twenty-seven. He makes a living selling hash and pays off the debts of his brother Isaac. So when his cousin tells him that he is opening a restaurant in Tel Aviv, Alex imagines joining him to start a new life at last. Determined to leave, Alex has to find money. But he also has to say goodbye to Paris, a city that he loves, Esther his ex, Mathias his old friend and Jeanne whom he has just met. Torn between aliyah, his drug deals, his complex love life and a destructive brother, Alex has to find his own path.

Élie Wajeman" "Initially, I wanted to tell the story of a drug dealer in Paris... Then I discovered Aliyah. I looked into that, and by reading a lot about it, making a trip to Israel and meeting people, I understood that many people who make Aliyah don’t do it because of ideology or religion, but simply to run away - from troubles, sorrows, disappointments, or sometimes from the law."

Élie Wajeman was born in 1980. Admitted to the Femis in 2004 (scriptwriting department) after studying film and drama, he wrote and directed several shorts, in particular Platonov, la nuit est belle in 2005 and Los Angeles, in 2007. Aliyah, his first feature film, was presented in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2012 Cannes Festival.

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