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In Home, I sought to capture spontaneous moments as a way to arrive at authenticity. The actors never read the script. Instead, we developed the characters through rehearsals grounded in improvisation—shaping their relationships, motivations, and personal histories together. We shot the film with two cameras to capture unrehearsed action and reaction in real time, working only with giving the actors their characters’ motives for the scene. We later shaped the long 20 minute uninterrupted takes through the edit to preserve spontaneity while aligning them precisely with the dramatic narrative. I chose this method because the story I wanted to tell centers on people in Israeli society who often go unseen and unheard. In a culture where the dominant narrative is patriotic and heroic, I hoped this approach would create a respectful space for the actors, as inseparable parts of that reality to explore the characters’ emotional truths rather than being pushed into familiar, stereotypical behavior. Exploring these spaces allowed me to ask: Who is the victim in a relationship shaped by one partner’s trauma? How does a society recreate trauma in response to its own wounds? These questions remained central throughout the entire process—from researching PTSD while developing the characters with the actors, to observing how shifts in motivation shaped scenes on set, and finally, in the editing room, where I uncovered new layers of meaning about victimhood through choosing through which camera we experience the situations.
Country: Israel
T-Port Partner: The Steve Tisch School of Film and Television, Tel Aviv University, The Steve Tisch School of Film and Television, Tel Aviv University
Nir Shenhav was born and raised in New Zealand and moved to Israel at the age of 10. At Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts, he majored in theater. In 2021 Nir began his film studies at Tel Aviv University where he created several short films, “Breeze” (2024) and “Home” (2025).
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