Sweet Mud

Divided into four seasons, the story is set on an Israeli kibbutz where the land is as idyllic in summer’s sun as in winter’s rains. It’s 1974, and this should be a happy time for 12-year-old Dvir (Tomer Steinhof) as he enters his bar mitzvah year. But his father is dead and his brother is off to the army. So that leaves Dvir to watch over his mentally unstable mother (Ronit Yudkevitch), a fragile soul who has already spent time in a sanatorium.

For a while, Dvir’s mother seems okay when her Swiss boyfriend comes to visit. But after an incident, the boyfriend is forced to leave. As his mother sinks into depression, Dvir realizes that the kibbutz – a collective community where everyone is supposed to be treated equally – isn’t equipped to deal with individual needs. It’s time for Dvir to make a life-changing decision.