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Six years ago, Ari Nesher, the teenage son of Israeli director Avi Nesher, was killed in a hit-and-run accident while riding an electric bicycle. He died on his 17th birthday. The case attracted international attention not only because the victim — a promising artistic soul with several short films already to his name — was the child of a celebrity, but because the driver was apparently famous as well. Newspapers reported the arrest and trial of a Premier League soccer player, who served time but was never convicted of manslaughter.

A sexy, modern and uncommonly introspective debut feature from Ari Nesher’s sister, Tom, “Come Closer” does the work of confronting this tragedy, but not in the way you might expect: The film opens with charismatic young Nati (Ido Tako) nearly getting run over on a bike. In this telling, however, the boy escapes that accident unscathed, only to be abducted by...

Exclusive: Greenwich Entertainment has acquired U.S. and Canada distribution rights to Come Closer, which is Israel’s submission to the Best International Feature Oscar race.

From director Tom Nesher and based loosely on incidents from her own life, the film recounts the sometimes twisted, sometimes comic and surprising aftermath that followed her young brother’s death. Nesher, daughter of renowned Israeli director Avi Nesher, took inspiration for the storyline from Ari Nesher, who was killed in a 2018 hit-and-run accident at age 17.

In the film, the only person Eden (Lia Elalouf) has ever really loved is her teenage brother, Nati. There are no secrets between them – or so Eden believes. When Nati is killed in a car accident, Eden discovers he had a secret girlfriend named Maya (Darya Rosenn). Eden embarks on a clandestine investigation, stalking Maya, befriending her and ultimately developing an obsession that pulls Maya into her own life,...

Tom Nesher’s directorial debut Come Closer will represent Israel in the 97th Academy Awards after it won the best film prize at the country’s Ophir film awards on Monday evening.

Lia Elalouf stars as a young woman struggling with the sudden death of her brother in a tragic accident, whose grief takes an obsessive turn when she discovers he had a secret girlfriend.

Nesher, who is the daughter of renowned Israeli director Avi Nesher, took inspiration for the storyline from the death of her own brother Ari Nesher, who was killed in a hit-and-run accident at the age of 17 in 2018.

Come Closer, which was nominated in 12 categories, also clinched awards for best director, best actress for Elalouf, and best editing.

The feature world premiered at Tribeca earlier this year, winning the Viewpoint Award. It made its Israeli premiere at the Jerusalem Film Festival in July, whenit was feted...

The festival programme includes a tribute to director Agnès Varda.

Haifa International Film Festival has unveiled the opening and closing night films, as well as a series of other additions to the programme, for its 34th edition (September 22 - October 1).

The festival will open with The Other Story, directed by Ari Nesher and starring Sasson Gabai, Joy Rieger, Yuval Segal, Maya Dagan and Nathan Goshen.

Co-written by Nesher and psychologist Noam Shpancer, the film follows a young secular woman who decides to get engaged to a hedonistic musician now living as an ultra-Orthodox Jew. This causes her divorced parents and...