Broken Wings

Director: Nir Bergman

In this moving meditation on the various stages of grief, a hard-working Israeli widow tries desperately to make ends meet while taking care of her four children after the tragic death of her husband. A critical smash in its native Israel, Broken Wings earned eleven nominations and nine awards from the Israeli Film Academy (including Best Film) and Bergman’s film also received accolades around the globe including the Tokyo Grand Prix and the John Schlesinger award for Debut Feature Film at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. The heart and soul of the film is in the heartbreakingly real portrayal of the eldest child Maya (played by Maya Maron, also wonderful in Campfire) as she does what she can to keep the other siblings in line while trying to come to terms with her own grief. All four children react to the nine-month old tragedy of their dad’s death with varying levels of acceptance, attitude, risk and existential crises and the film is painfully real yet Bergman has some moments of pure loveliness and bright spots of humor and joy that help keep it from straying too far into the realm of a “great depression.”