The House on Tabenkin Street (2008)

Construction works across from director Liviu Carmely's house raise questions about the meaning of the words home, parenthood, and family. Liviu was born in Romania and as a child was abandoned by his mother. He never knew his father. As a boy, he drifted from house to house, until immigrating to Israel. After yeas of struggle he now has a house of his own; he has also become a father. During the movie, his relationship with his son Dean intertwines with the father-son relationships of the construction workers (Jews, Arabs, Romanians, and Chinese). Liviu documents the rising building along with his son's growth, hinting at a metaphorical relation between the two. Liviu is drawn to search into his own past and his childhood in Romania. He succeeds in locating his mother, whom he has not seen in over 40 years. In this dramatic encounter he makes his first attempt to reveal his father's identity. The House on Tabenkin Street portrays a personal journey that combines the private and the public and in which past and present are deeply intertwined. The building of a house as a symbol of life itself.