Dolphin Boy
Ha’Dolfin
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 he 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 for Israeli Arab Issues