Sunday/dimanche June16 juin, 16:00 

REDEMPTION

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Joseph Madmony, Boaz Yehonatan Yacov | 2018 | 104 minutes

Menachem (Moshe Folkenflik) is a middle-aged single father struggling to finance his cancer-stricken six-year-old daughter’s formidable medical expenses with his modest income as a grocery clerk. In his recent past, he had fronted a rock-and-roll band until personal tragedies prompted his retirement from music and the adoption of a devoted Hasidic practice that has alienated most of his old friends. Playing music promises to be more lucrative than stocking shelves, but would a return to singing be compatible with a life of worship? As Menacham’s financial situation worsens, he decides to call up his former bandmates and maybe try to make a comeback. “By focusing its energies squarely on Menachem’s existential crisis and its sources — his fierce love for his daughter, his sense of fulfillment as a performer, his humility as a novice Hasid — Redemption finds an exquisite balance between the secular and the religious. Folkenflik’s performance is beautifully graded, traversing a broad spectrum of grief, rage, and exaltation.” Jane Schoettle, Toronto International Film Festival.