Yona
- Higher (Working title)
Feature Film | 2012-2014 | Biography, Drama | Germany, Israel
Main data
| Director | Nir Bergman |
|---|---|
| Written by | Dita Guery |
| Production | Riva Filmproduktion [de], United Channel Movies [il] |
| Distributor | Salzgeber & Co. Medien GmbH (form. Edition Salzgeber) [de] |
Project data
Brief synopsis
Synopsis
Yona is based on the turbulent life story of Yona Wallach, one of the greatest poets ever to have written in the Hebrew language. The film focuses on the early ‘60s, a period in Wallach’s life after her father has died and in which she is still a young, rural woman. She is making her first steps in the world of Hebrew poetry, battling for recognition in an environment that is chauvinistic, male-dominated and already replete with generations of bad blood. After her breakthrough and inevitable transition from the countryside to the big city, Yona – who is intent on testing her own limits and experiencing as much as possible – suffers a mental breakdown. At the time, mental patients were treated with LSD: a procedure that didn’t exactly improve their condition, to say the least. The film centres on her struggle to resume writing and attain immortality by becoming part of the canon of Hebrew poetry – along with the price she was willing to pay to achieve this.
Yona is based on the turbulent life story of Yona Wallach, one of the greatest poets ever to have written in the Hebrew language. The film focuses on the early ‘60s, a period in Wallach’s life after her father has died and in which she is still a young, rural woman. She is making her first steps in the world of Hebrew poetry, battling for recognition in an environment that is chauvinistic, male-dominated and already replete with generations of bad blood. After her breakthrough and inevitable transition from the countryside to the big city, Yona – who is intent on testing her own limits and experiencing as much as possible – suffers a mental breakdown. At the time, mental patients were treated with LSD: a procedure that didn’t exactly improve their condition, to say the least. The film centres on her struggle to resume writing and attain immortality by becoming part of the canon of Hebrew poetry – along with the price she was willing to pay to achieve this.