Synonyms

Winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, Synonyms is one of the most unusual and provocative migration dramas in recent memory. The young Israeli Yoav arrives in Paris desperate to erase his national identity and become French. With the help of a Franco-Israeli dictionary, he resolves to stop speaking Hebrew, ace his upcoming naturalization test, and put his troubled past behind him. Needless to say, things don’t go according to plan. Based on the real-life experiences of writer-director Nadav Lapid (The Kindergarten Teacher, Policeman), Synonyms explores the challenges of putting down roots in a new place. (123 mins., DCP)