HA’MISHLAHATN

2023 / 101 min/ color

Asaf Saban tackles themes of identity, heritage, and understanding history in a unique way in his debut feature, presenting it all within the poetics of coming of age films. The focus of Delegation is on three teenage friends, Frisch, Nitzan and Ido, who take the customary trip from Israel to Poland with their classmates and Frisch’s grandfather, a Holocaust survivor. The primary purpose is to pay tribute to their fallen ancestors and to learn more about their heritage. Visits to concentration camps and memorial sites stir up strong feelings in the boys: every evening they release these emotions as they discuss what they have seen, wondering what impact these experiences might have on their lives. Tears are mixed with anger; feelings of helplessness shift into strong resolutions for the future. But like any school trip this one has its own rules, and Saban takes a close look at the group dynamics. He examines the emotions bubbling up inside the boys not only in terms of reliving history, but also in the context of the messy process of growing up, at a time of life when everything is felt so much more intensely.