Batim

Sasha is young, non-binary, creative and has seemingly left their experience of migration and childhood trauma behind them. Yet in order to really become liberated from the ghosts of the past, they must face up to them on a transformative journey that leads through the ghostly house of an overcast, desolate Safed. Believed dead, the family dog Rem suddenly appears out of nowhere, becoming a loyal companion and a silent witness of their longing for belonging and healing. Forgotten history meets repressed memories, old video and diary recordings reveal scars that could come become open wounds at any moment. In their former parental home, queer artist Anna offers the traveller temporary shelter, warmth and support. Enchanted by Anna’s approach to life, it briefly seems possible for Sasha to find a home by creating a new narrative for their identity. With a radiant, sensitive Yael Eisenberg in the leading role, a way of staging corporeality with filigree precision and a poetic visual language that sticks to black and white, Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum’s enigmatic, contemplative feature debut tells the story of someone looking for themselves in a life marked by upheaval and hurt. (Irina Bondas)

Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum is a filmmaker, photographer and actress. Born in Ukraine in 1984, she immigrated to Israel in 1990. A graduate of the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York and the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem, her short film Confession won the Short Independent Film prize at the Cinema South Festival in 2019. She acted in films like Kedma by Amos Gitai and Andante by Assaf Tager. Her photography, exploring identity and memory, has been showcased in exhibitions, including Waiting at the Nolobz Art Gallery in Tel Aviv in 2019. Houses is Tetelbaum’s debut feature film.

Director Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum. Screenplay Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum. Cinematography Yaniv Linton. Editing Avishai Sivan. Music Rike Huy. Sound Design Rotem Dror. Production Design Sharon Isabella De Levi. Costumes Aya Zaiger. Make-Up Inbal Zorer. Producers Elad Gavish, Adi Navon, Anatol Schuster, Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum. Co-Producer Ronen Ben Tal. Production companies Marker Films (Tel Aviv, Israel), Bona Productions (Tel Aviv, Israel). With Yael Eisenberg, Tali Sharon, Evgenia Dodina.

Films: 2012: Mi At / Who Are You (short film). 2014: Dag Ba-Maim / Water Fish (short film). 2015: Kol Yom / Every Day (short film). 2017: Vidui / Confession (short film). 2025: Batim / H