The Farewell Party

  • a film by Tal Granit, Sharon Maymon
  • feature film
  • 93 min
  • 2014

Residents of a retirement home build a machine for self-euthanasia to help their terminally ill friend, facing moral dilemmas as requests increase.

Info
  • Genre

    • Drama / Comedy
  • Countries of Production

    • Germany / Israel
  • Language

    • Hebrew
  • World premiere

    • 29th August 2014 – Venice Days
  • German cinema release

    • 24th September 2015
  • a production by

    • Pie Films, 2-Team Productions
  • in co-production with

    • Twenty Twenty Vision, Pallas Film, United King Films
  • with the support of

    • MDM – Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Israel Film Fund, Jerusalem Film & Television Fund, Reshet, Yes Satellite Television
  • World Sales

    • Beta Cinema
  • Distribution

    • Neue Visionen Filmverleih
Synopsis

Ezekiel, 72, lives in a retirement home in Jerusalem with his wife Levana. Ezekiel is the resident inventor, always coming up with new original ways of making everyone’s life a little easier (such as a vibrating mouse for a Parkinson patient). When his best friend Max, who is suffering from a terminal illness, asks Ezekiel to help him end his life, he feels compelled to help his fried die in peace. Together with a retired veterinarian – who brings the tranquilizers, and a former police detective to clean up the evidence, he tries to figure out the best way to put Max to rest. The thing is no one in the group can bring themselves to actually kill Max, so Ezekiel invents (constructs?) a “Euthanasia Machine” that allows Max to press the button himself, and fulfill his own wish to die with dignity.
Levana, Ezekiel’s wife, does everything she can to stop them, but Yehezkel goes behind her back, and together the group of friends help Max end his suffering. When Levana, who suffers from early stage Alzheimer, realizes what they’ve done she calls them all murderers, and wants nothing to do with them.
Meanwhile word of the “Euthanasia Machine” begins to leak out, and old people from all over Jerusalem flock to the retirement home looking for a way to end suffering of their loved ones. They beg Ezekiel and his friends to help them. The group resists at first, but finally they find themselves in the Euthanasia business, traveling all over the country, granting people their last wish to die in peace, often in some bizarre settings.
Ezekiel is so distracted by all this; he refuses to realize that Levana’s condition is deteriorating. Levana realizes she’s one step away from not knowing her own granddaughter. She begins to understand that she may have misjudged her friends, and asks them to help her end her life before it is too late. Now Ezekiel is faced with an impossible dilemma, does he let his wife go peacefully, as he has done for so many others, or hold on to her life against her will.

Cast
  • Yehezkel

    • Zeev Revah
  • Levana

    • Levana Finkelstein
  • Yana

    • Alisa Rozen
  • Dr. Daniel

    • Ilan Dar
  • Rafi

    • Rafael Tabor
  • Zelda

    • Ruth Geller
  • Noa

    • Hila Surjun
  • Sima

    • Idit Teperson
  • Dovek

    • Josef Carmon
Crew
  • Written by

    • Tal Granit, Sharon Maymon
  • Directed by

    • Tal Granit, Sharon Maymon
  • Producers

    • Thanassis Karathanos, Haim Mecklberg, Estee Yacov-Mecklberg, Talia Kleinhendler, Osnat Handelman-Keren, Karl Baumgartner, Moshe Edery
  • Director of photography

    • Tobias Hochstein
  • Editor

    • Einat Glaser-Zarhin
  • Set design

    • Arad Sawat
  • Casting

    • Michal Koren
  • Music

    • Avi Belleli
  • costumes

    • Sheim Laura
  • Make Up

    • Orly Ronen
  • Art Director

    • Arat Shawat
  • Sound Design

    • Aviv Aldema
  • Mixing Engineer

    • Stephan von Hase
Festivals
  • Toronto IFF
  • Haifa IFF
  • Valladolid IFF
  • Sofia IFF
  • Istanbul IFF
  • Int. Hofer Filmtage
  • Jewish FF Berlin & Potsdam
  • Fünf Seen FF
Awards
  • Best Actress - Levana Finkelstein / Haifa IFF
  • Golden Spike Feature-length + Best Actress - Levana Finkelstein & Aliza Rosen / Valladolid IFF
  • Best Actor - Ze'ev Revach + Best Camera + Best Sound + Best Makeup / Israeli Academy of Film and Television
  • Audience Award / IFF Venice

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