I am a huge fan of director Talya Lavie's film Zero Motivation, and I noticed in interviews she had mentioned that this short was the precursor to that film. Thankfully it was available as part of the Zero Motivation DVD.
Zero Motivation is a triptych and the first part of it loosely corresponds to The Substitute though I was surprised to find that The Substitute is actually much darker in tone. Dana Ivgy, who also appears in Zero Motivation, appears as the lead in this film, although her character, Zohara, despite having the same name, is quite different. Zohara is doing the mandatory military training that all Israelis must do. She's stuck doing menial work in the middle of nowhere though, and she dreams of getting out and going to Tel Aviv. She is thrilled when her replacement arrives, but when the girl attempts suicide, Zohara is assigned suicide watch, something that she is less than thrilled about.
This is a really low-budget student film (at one point the boom mic is blatantly in frame, but it is also incredibly touching and well-written. I enjoyed watching it as it was interesting to see the genesis of Zero Motivation, but even on its own it stands up well as a film worth seeing.
Zero Motivation is a triptych and the first part of it loosely corresponds to The Substitute though I was surprised to find that The Substitute is actually much darker in tone. Dana Ivgy, who also appears in Zero Motivation, appears as the lead in this film, although her character, Zohara, despite having the same name, is quite different. Zohara is doing the mandatory military training that all Israelis must do. She's stuck doing menial work in the middle of nowhere though, and she dreams of getting out and going to Tel Aviv. She is thrilled when her replacement arrives, but when the girl attempts suicide, Zohara is assigned suicide watch, something that she is less than thrilled about.
This is a really low-budget student film (at one point the boom mic is blatantly in frame, but it is also incredibly touching and well-written. I enjoyed watching it as it was interesting to see the genesis of Zero Motivation, but even on its own it stands up well as a film worth seeing.
