“Divided into three parts, it’s a snapshot of urban relationships and loneliness that electrifies with its raw, razor-sharp honesty. With ALL EYES OFF ME,
Ben Aroya shows promise to be a filmmaker we could trust to
tell more stories of the young.”
— Zhuo-Ning Su, Awards Daily
“Unpredictable, unnerving and quietly exhilarating.”
— Redmond Bacon, Dirty Movies
SYNOPSIS
Tel Aviv, today. At a party, an anxious girl named Danny is looking for Max, a recent casual fling, to share that she’s pregnant with his child. Through the haze of drugs and promiscuity of the partygoers, Danny doesn’t get far in her search. Meanwhile, Max is busy with his new girlfriend, Avishag. He attempts to realize her rough sexual fantasies but Avishag instead turns her attention to another burgeoning relationship with Dror, an older man for whom she she dog-sits.
In these three, loosely connected vignettes, director Hadas Ben Aroya’s second feature film proves to be an atmospheric exploration of a self-possessed generation of young Israelis. Though beautiful, confident, and sexually liberated, ALL EYES OFF ME, winner of several awards at the 2021 Jerusalem Film Festival, addresses the physical limits of intimacy, questioning just how liberated these youths really are when faced with vulnerability.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY: HADAS BEN AROYA
Born in 1988 in Israel, Hadas Ben Aroya, a graduate of the Steve Tisch School of Film and Television, is the recipient of the “Discovery of the Year” Award granted by the Forum of Israeli Film Critics, and the Israeli Academy awards winner for Best supporting actress. Her debut feature film “People That Are Not Me” (2016) was written, produced, directed by and featuring Ben Aroya in the lead role. The film premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival and won the Grand Prix at the Mar Del Plata Film Festival. It was screened at dozens of global festivals, won 12 awards and was sold for a worldwide distribution. Ben Aroya participated in the Berlinale Talents 2017. “Nymphie”, her third feature film project, developed in the the Sundance screenwriters lab, and currently in preproduction. “All Eyes Off Me” is her second feature film.
SELECT FILM FESTIVALS
- Berlinale – Panorama (2021)
- Roffa Mon Amour (Netherlands, Opening Film, 2021)
- Karlovy Vary Film Festival (Czechia, 2021)
- Tallinn Black Nights FF (Estonia, 2021)
- Jerusalem Film Festival (2021) – Winner Best Actress, Winner, Israeli Full-length Feature Films
- Zurich International Film Festival (2021)
- Miami Jewish FF (2022)
