Next to Her, the debut feature from Israeli director Asaf Korman, played at the Directors Fortnight section of the 2014 Cannes Film Fest.
The tale centers on a woman’s relationship with her mentally ill sister and her lover, an uncomfortable portrayal of co-dependent interaction between a school security officer and her seriously disabled sister.
Korman, 32, is the latest of young, talented Israeli directors to produce outstanding work on a shoestring.
His graduation movie, Death of Shula, also showed at Cannes, and he subsequently worked as an editor on some of Israel’s commercial hits.
His wife, Liron Ben-Shlush, decided to write a film about the relationship with a learning-disabled sibling, based on her own sister. She took her sister’s character and put it into a different setting.
Its making was also a family affair: Ben-Shlush wrote the screenplay and took the main role while Korman was faced with the task of finding an actress to play the part of the disabled sister, Gabby.
“Dana Ivgy is one of Israel’s best young actresses and she also happened to be a friend of mine. She also knew Liron well and knew about her sister. She worked with Liron’s sister for a long time and she talked to doctors to be familiar with the effects of the medication
Korman also had to cast an actor to play his wife’s boyfriend, in a bond which included sex scenes.
Korman is particularly satisfied with the reaction of those who work in the field of learning disability in Israel. “We worked a lot with hostels and social workers in Israel and they loved the result. Rather than show parents’ total neglect or selfless sacrifice, we were trying to bring out the ambivalence of the relationship.
There were some disturbing scenes, one where Chelli [Ben-Shlush] almost drowns Gabby in the bath. And another in which she does nothing when Gabby is banging her head on the floor.
In the middle of writing the script, Ben-Shlush gave birth to the couple’s first child. The film was not just about living with disabled sibling, it was also about the conflicts of people who have to care for someone, whether it is a young child, a sibling or elderly parent.
