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Inspired by and adapted from Alan Newman’s novel Good Heart, this feature-length film showcases Israel’s social diversity alongside its textured and sometimes challenging issues.
Off Base opens as three IDF soldiers share a ride home for Shabbat from their base in Southern Israel. They set off as strangers – Ben, a lone soldier from the US; Gadi, a Mizrachi Israeli soccer prodigy; Orit, an idealistic Ethiopian soldier who teaches in a local school with predominantly Ethiopian immigrant children. Reacting to a series of unforeseen challenges, the three end up on a circuitous route bringing them in contact with a variety of unusual Israelis.
On a trip filled with adventure and exploring relationships, the three reveal facets of the paths that brought them and their families to Israel. Their youthful banter, laced with vulnerability, attraction, humor and openness, helps make the exciting ride home a journey of self-discovery and friendship that will clearly impact their future.
Off Base is not a polemic defense of Israel. It is a road trip–dramedy presenting the personal tales of recent Israeli immigrants coming to grips with the barriers they face and the choices they made. It tells a compelling, thought-provoking story reflecting multiple insights into Israel’s complex culture and society. In a charming, good-humored way, the film highlights the multicultural essence of Israel and its devoted citizens.
Through a nuanced story that young people can relate to, the film thoughtfully counters the rising anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist movements casting Israel as a colonialist enterprise. Off Base subtly tackles the myths and distortions young American Jews face on campuses, in high schools and in social settings.
The objective of Off Base is to light a candle in a dark room.
By presenting the inherent difficulties and charms of Israel’s inherent social diversity, the film helps dispel insidious claims of racism and discrimination by providing greater context and nuance. This will encourage viewers to think more deeply about Israel’s miraculous, complex history and issues.
It will help young Jews to better understand Israel and to appreciate their Jewish identity in three very important ways:
Off Base brings to life a warm and inviting story. Like Leon Uris’s epic novel and movie Exodus, the film chooses fictional characters to craft a multicultural, multiracial, and heartwarming story of Israel. With drama, intrigue, laughter, and tears guaranteed to leave a lasting impression.
Fiction opens a window onto the broadest interpretation possible of the three protagonists’ narratives, inspiring honest, and sometimes difficult inquiry. Viewers can relate to characters that uniquely resonate with themselves. A story like Off Base presents an incredible opportunity to delve into real issues young adults face.
Off Base never shies away from the hard questions. It never deviates from its main goal: to empower young people to openly celebrate Israel as a democratic, progressive beacon in a world with too few of the same.
To help young people stand up and be heard, it is incumbent upon the artistic creators and generous investors in Off Base to prepare them not only with history and facts, but with a good heart.
This film will encourage viewers to overcome preconceived notions and not to get caught “off base” in the quagmire of distorted anti-Israel rhetoric. Instead, they will connect with our quintessential Israeli story on a deeply personal level.
Release to educator network of schools, allied activist and philanthropic organizations, campuses, travel programs and missions
Screenings at local Jewish community centers, synagogues and with other local organizations
Submissions to premiere, international, Jewish, and Israel-focused festivals
Born in Ethiopia, Esti immigrated to Israel at the age of four, where she was reunited with her father, who had arrived two years before the rest of the family. Like her protagonist Almaz, she spent her military service working as a teacher for new Ethiopian immigrants. After her military service, Esti studied Photography and Screen Based Arts at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. She has held numerous photography exhibitions and has won several prestigious awards. Ultimately, her love of the art of storytelling prevailed and she continued her studies, earning a master’s degree in film and television at Tel Aviv University. Her first film was the short drama, Summer of ‘89 (2013), which she wrote and directed. Esti also wrote and directed Lady Titi (2018), the first feature film dealing with Ethiopian Israelis that was screened commercially in cinemas across Israel. Esti is the creative content director and co-owner of Abayenesh Productions, which she established together with her spouse, Elad Wexler.
Executive Producer credit at the beginning of the film. Special mention on the film website
Co-Executive Producer credit at end of the film. Special mention on the film website
Associate Producer credit at end of the film. Special mention on the film website
Credit as a Gold Level Supporter at end of the film. Special mention on the film website
Credit as a Silver Level Supporter at end of the film. Special mention on the film website
Credit as a Bronze Level Supporter at end of the film. Special mention on the film website
Special mention on the film website
BEN, a 23-year-old American “lone soldier,” is fulfilling a childhood dream to protect the Jewish State, serves on an IDF army base in the Negev. Ben grew up in mid-America knowing that his grandfather was killed in the Yom Kippur War. Despite family protest, cultural challenge, and the rigor of IDF training, he is succeeding. His American girlfriend just sent him a breakup letter and now he just wants to chill out spending shabbat with some buddies in Tel Aviv.
Another soldier in Ben’s unit, GADI, is a funny, sturdy, and athletic Mizrachi soldier whose family originally came from Syria and Egypt. He has the instincts of a scout and the potential to be an excellent combat soldier. But Gadi’s real dream is to become a professional soccer player. He has just learned that his beloved grandfather received bad health news and he wants him to come to his tryout for a professional soccer team.
A short drive from their base, ORIT, a pretty Ethiopian soldier-teacher, spends time at an elementary school in Beer Sheva, working with immigrant children. She loves her students but is troubled to see the way the Ethiopian children are challenged. Orit doesn’t feel that the school’s administration is taking them seriously enough. She wants to discuss her post-IDF career plans with her family.
Friday morning, despite war rumors, some soldiers are informed that they can go off base for Shabbat. Ben has special “lone soldier” permission for the weekend leave, but Gadi does not. This is terrible news for Gadi as he hoped to be at a soccer game where a professional scout, and his grandfather, would watch him play. This could determine the fate of his future. Using a bit of chutzpah and subterfuge, Gadi manages to get away from the base and meets Ben at the bus stop. Before the bus arrives, they see Orit stuffing too much baggage into her a decrepit car. She offers them a ride, and the journey begins. The unlikely threesome stows their bags, and begin conversation, although impeded by cultural and language barriers, it is rich with candor, humor, and tales of their family adventures.
Their first stop is a military cemetery where Ben visits the grave of a family friend. On the way out their car is dinged. It is more severely damaged than expected and soon they are stuck on the side of a desert road. That is when the real adventure begins as they hitchhike their way north. Their travel is beset by mishaps that bring them into contact with Israel’s melting pot mosaic and tourists of all stripes.
While Ben, Orit and Gadi share nuggets about their past, romantic tensions can be felt. Ben is the last person Orit – an outspoken, passionate Ethiopian advocate – would have thought of as a partner yet she finds herself attracted to his idealism and charm.
Ben ends up spending the weekend with Orit’s family. He finds a community full of Zionism, camaraderie, and differing opinions about Israel and the struggles of Ethiopian Israelis. After Gadi’s victory in the soccer game Ben and Gadi join Orit and her other Ethiopian Israeli friends for a night out. The group gets rowdy and a confrontation with police lands them all in jail overnight. In the morning, they hear the incoming missile sirens and guess a military operation will soon begin in Gaza. The police let everyone go so that they can return to their bases. The three return to their shared mission of protecting the Jewish people and building their homeland.
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