Aaron & Cecile Goldman Theater
Washington DC JCC, 1529 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC

Israel, 2011, documentary
72 minutes
Arabic, French and Hebrew with English subtitles
Director: Dani Menkin and Yonatan Nir

Mid-Atlantic Premiere
Special Jury Mention, Jerusalem Film Festival

Morad, a teenage boy from an Arab village in northern Israel, is brutally beaten by some of his classmates. He suffers from severe post-traumatic shock, unable to talk and disconnecting himself from the world around him. When doctors tell Morad's devoted father that dolphin-assisted therapy is the last treatment option before hospitalization in a mental institution, he leaves his job and family, moving with Morad to Dolphin Reef in Eilat. Slowly Morad develops a remarkable relationship with the dolphins and even starts speaking again, but refuses to remember the past or go home to his mother. Surrounded by a dedicated doctor, new friends and an Israeli Jewish girlfriend, Morad and his father make a remarkable four-year journey of patience, healing and love.

POST-FILM DISCUSSION WITH Dani Menkin, Director

CO-SPONSORED BY the Embassy of Israel and the Greater Washington Forum on Israeli Arab Issues