'Farewell Column' tells a sadly relevant story

• Published date: 30 March 2024
• Author: HANNAH BROWN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Directed by Ron Ninio, Farewell Column has a script by Ninio, best known for his television series, His Honor, but who has also had a long career directing films, and Dror Keren, who plays the lead role. Keren too, has had an acclaimed career in film, television, and stage, and has appeared in such films as Avi Nesher's The Matchmaker and Paul Schrader's Adam Resurrected, and he is beloved by Israeli children as the voice of Woody in the Hebrew versions of the Toy Story movies. Recently, Keren has turned to screenwriting and also co-wrote the movie, Home, with Benny Fredman

Farewell Column, which was filmed and is set about three years ago, tells the story of a difficult day in the life of Karmi (Keren), a political columnist who has offended some very thuggish people with a column criticizing the Netanyahu government and has just been doxxed – meaning his address and phone number have been publicly revealed – and is receiving threatening messages. His editor wants a follow-up column, but Karmi is having trouble concentrating.

The COVID pandemic is raging, and he has just moved out of the apartment he shares with his wife (Ilanit Ben-Yaakov) and daughter (Carmel Bin), because the conflicts in his marriage have become more pronounced, as they have all been stuck at home during lockdown. Their daughter wants to go to the Balfour protests in Jerusalem back when police used water cannons and force to disperse the demonstrators. His parents (Yehoshua Sobol and Jetta Monte) are bickering like children and want him to play referee.

Worst of all, perhaps, is the fact that his teenage son who is on the autism spectrum is not allowed to leave his group home due to the Coronavirus regulations. And even if he were allowed to leave and weather the next lockdown at home, which home would he go to, Karmi's wife asks: The Airbnb that Karmi can't afford or the family home that Karmi has just moved out of?

That's a lot of trouble for a single day, but Ninio and Keren pull off this mournful and moving story, anchored by Keren's compelling performance. It's shot in stunning black-and-white cinematography – "Our lives were not in color then," said Ninio – and was filmed guerilla-style, shot in 17 days but not consecutively, over the course of a year, at the height of the pandemic.

"During COVID, when we in the entertainment industry were not considered 'essential workers,' people were stuck at home, and they really wanted to work, especially when they heard what the film was...