JIFF: Soda

Soda

“A compelling story… a tragic romance.” – The Jerusalem Post

Australian Premiere

Israel, 1954. Eva (Rotem Sela, A Body That Works), a beautiful seamstress, joins a working-class neighbourhood of Holocaust survivors with her daughter. Shalom (Lior Raz, Fauda, Gladiator 2), the foreman of the town’s soda factory and a former resistance fighter in World War II, is immediately captivated by Eva’s looks and vitality. But rumours of Eva’s past as a Kapo (Nazi collaborator) in the war start circulating among the community, and Shalom becomes torn between his passion for Eva and his duty to uncover the truth.

Director Erez Tadmor displays his incredible range as a filmmaker with this tense drama; he’s also the director of hit comedies Matchmaking and Matchmaking 2 (also showing at JIFF 2025). Inspired by Tadmor’s own maternal grandfather’s experiences, Soda is a powerful story of ethical dilemmas, guilt, revenge, justice and the struggle to rebuild after unfathomable trauma.

Rating

Unclassified 15+

Duration

99 min

Language

Hebrew (English subtitles)

Cast

Lior Raz, Rotem Sela

Director

Erez Tadmor