08/08/2014 - The new Talya Lavie comedy film has got to around 260,000 admissions since June

Zero Motivation, the new Talya Lavie (director and writer) comedy film, broke all known records in the Israeli film history. Since it hit only 20 screens on June 27, 2014 around 260,000 admissions made this film a record breaker at times when many Israelis had to stay in shelters following a massive missile attacks on Israel. 

Zero Motivation portrays the story of everyday life for young Israeli female soldiers at an army base out of nowhere in the Israeli desert. Lavie's film shows the day to day routine life of the women soldiers in their human resources office and illustrates intelligently the humiliating status of women in the Israeli army.

"The local audience's desire for a good laugh, the excellent reviews and the buzz have made the film a big winner", says the film producer Eilon Ratzkovsky of July August Productions. "Whenever I produce a film I believe in it and its potential. In the case of Zero Motivation, during all the stages of production from shooting through editing we had a very distinct feeling that we have a special film. Our feeling just reconfirmed when we began test screenings and we saw the reactions of the audience".  

Mr. Katriel Schory, executive manager of the Israel Film Fund that supported the film says that the success of the film in Israel surpassed any early estimates. Schory, who has years of experience in the local Israeli film scene, does not remember a similar success under the given war circumstances in Israel. 

Talya Lavie, director and writer, says that among other surprises that she had about the film is the age of the audience that now we know is between 16-80. She keeps getting messages and phones from young and old people that saw the film and loved it and this fact also provides an explanation to the big success of the film.