Sweet Mud


Sweet Mud is a 2006 Israeli satirical drama film written and directed by Dror Shaul. The semi-autobiographical film was shot on the kibbutzim of Ruhama and Nir Eliyahu, and draws on Shaul's memories of growing up on a kibbutz with his mentally unstable and widowed mother. This was the first film of the acting career of Daniel Kitsis.

Plot

Set in 1974, Dvir is soon to turn 13 and lives with his mother Miri at a progressive kibbutz populated by people who take pride in their open-minded attitudes. However, they're not so easygoing when it comes to Miri; she's been sent to a mental hospital more than once, and her instability is more than most of the residents want to deal with, leaving Dvir to look after his mother with the help of his older brother Eyal. Miri persuades her Swiss boyfriend Stephan to join her at the kibbutz, even though he isn't Jewish, but he isn't welcomed by other residents, and an unpleasant incident involving a neighbor's dog turns the couple into outcasts. In the midst of all this, Dvir is trying to prepare for his bar mitzvah, which at the kibbutz is combined with a severe regimen of survival training; he also gets a crash course in his ongoing maturity when he develops a crush on Maya, a cute girl his age.

Cast

Sweet Mud received generally favorable reviews from critics. At Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 82%, based on 11 reviews and an average rating of 7/10. The Toronto Star called it "an appealing coming-of-age tale that takes on the difficult issues of mental illness and conformity", providing two contrasting views of kibbutz life: on one hand, "an idyllic pastoral life where the fruits of labour and a strong sense of community are shared by all," and on the other, "a place of rigid rules, where children sleep in segregated quarters away from their parents, baby bottles are dispensed in a regimented maternity ward-type system and where disapproval of individual idiosyncrasies can easily become a communal decision that isolates and ostracizes."

Awards

The film received four 2006 Ophir Awards from the Israeli Academy of Film and Television and six other nominations. It also won the World Cinema Jury Prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and was Israel's official submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2007 Academy Awards.