Shmulik Kraus

In a little Jerusalem apartment, surrounded by dolls and cats, Miriam Yalan-Shtekelis wrote children’s songs that have captured hearts for many generations of Israelis: The Doll Named Zehava, The Soap that Cried a Lot, Michael, and many more. The director, photographer, editor, designer and writer Reuven Brodeski created the atmosphere of a Russian legend about Yalan-Shtekelis, using miniatures that he fashioned himself for the film, interviewing people who knew her, and telling the story of Israel’s most important figure in children’s literature.

Shmulik Kraus is considered the founding father of modern Israeli music, a controversial figure. Five decades of creative work intertwined with madness, jail time and violence, this film portrays a complex character. The manic depressive illness he suffered from trapped Kraus in a vicious cycle; each album recording ended in his hospitalization in a psychiatric hospital. Yet, his passion to create new music did not cease there. Kraus passed away unexpectedly in 2013 during the shooting of this film. He was 77. Combining archive footage with intimate interviews and scenes documented during a two year time span, the film unravels a different Kraus: human, tender, a weary warrior. We are offered a deeper look into a troubled, once-adored artist, from the perspective of his life's end.

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