Batim

Sasha is young, non-binary, creative and has seemingly left their experience of migration and childhood trauma behind them. Yet in order to really become liberated from the ghosts of the past, they must face up to them on a transformative journey that leads through the ghostly house of an overcast, desolate Safed. Believed dead, the family dog Rem suddenly appears out of nowhere, becoming a loyal companion and a silent witness of their longing for belonging and healing. Forgotten history meets repressed memories, old video and diary recordings reveal scars that could come become open wounds at any moment. In their former parental home, queer artist Anna offers the traveller temporary shelter, warmth and support. Enchanted by Anna’s approach to life, it briefly seems possible for Sasha to find a home by creating a new narrative for their identity. With a radiant, sensitive Yael Eisenberg in the leading role, a way of staging corporeality with filigree precision and a poetic visual language that sticks to black and white, Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum’s enigmatic, contemplative feature debut tells the story of someone looking for themselves in a life marked by upheaval and hurt.