Exclusive Screening of the Film “Karaoke” and a Conversation with the Artists Behind It

After the screening of the film, a talk was held with:

Moshe Rosenthal, a filmmaker, screenwriter and director of the movie, alum of the School of Film and Television at the Faculty of Arts at Tel Aviv University.
Sasson Gabay, film, television and theater actor, the lead in “Karaoke”, an alum of the Department of Theatre Arts at  the Faculty of Arts at Tel Aviv University
The talk moderator was Yael Shuv, a writer and film critic, an alumna of the Faculty of Humanities and the Steve Tisch School of Cinema and Television, at the Faculty of Arts at Tel Aviv University.

Sasson Gabay, who recently won his fourth Ophir Award for his performance in the film, became the most awarded actor in the history of Israeli cinema.

Sigalit Ben Hayoun, Head of the Tel Aviv University Alumni Organization, welcomed the participants to the New Year and noted that immediately after the holidays the new academic year will begin at Tel Aviv University, the largest research university in Israel, with 29,000 students. She also called on the graduates to invite those who have first year undergraduate students in their circle to take part in the panel, which is being held for the first time as part of an orientation day “First Date with Tel Aviv University”, whose speakers are inspiring alumni, who share their stories about the journey from the day they graduated to their professional success.

Moshe Rosenthal told his story from graduation from film studies in 2011 to the creation of “Karaoke”, his first full-length film. He said he started with music video production, and from there he moved on to short films to build a portfolio that would show he was a filmmaker worth investing in. Ultimately, the first to invest in him were Yaron Bloch, Head of the Film School, and the school’s production company, Gaudeamus Production, through the school’s alumni film encouragement fund.
Sasson Gabay, who took part in a Tel Aviv University event for the first time, told about his path into the world of theater as a teenager who wanted to be an actor and was ashamed of it, that he secretly auditioned for a military band and wasn’t accepted, and that during his service in the CID he began studying theater at Tel Aviv University with Peter Frye, one of the founders of the Department of Theater Arts at Tel Aviv University. 

Yael Shuv asked Moshe Rosenthal how it happened that his first film deals with characters from a different generation?
Rosenthal answered that he built the film from observing his parents, after a specific case in which they asked him to find a couple they knew on Facebook for them. The situation connected to his experiences from high school, of wanting to be liked, an experience that affects all of us at different times and at different ages.

A question from the audience was whether a young audience could connect with the plot of the film, which deals with a couple older than them. Rosenthal replied that even audiences at international festivals, who don’t understand Israeli nuances, still laughed, cried and got excited. Gabay reinforced this by adding that the experience is a familiar one at any age, and there are those who connect from a personal place and others who identify with their parents in the story, but the basis is a universal human experience.

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