The Witch from Melchet Street
Encyclopedia
The Witch from Melchet Street is a 2005 Israel
i modern-day urban
fairy tale
about magic and first love. It's based on a book by Israeli author Gadi Taub and is geared towards both children and adults as it tells the story of the magical summer that Assaf fell in love for the first time with a neighborhood girl and became close friends with the witch who lived on his street.
Nearly two decades after the summer Assaf is still gripped by his memories. Since then, the little girl has grown up and moved away, but Assaf never left. “When you live in the house you grew up in, your childhood is always right beside you,” he explains. “You buy cigarettes where you used to buy popsicles, you sit at a cafe overlooking your old school.”
Now, when Assaf spots his first love wandering through his neighborhood, he can’t help but follow a few steps behind her, keeping her hot pink dress in sight at all times. As he watches her walk, he can't help but remember the brassy little girl who, long ago, showed no remorse while breaking his heart.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i modern-day urban
Urban culture
Urban culture is the culture of towns and cities. In the United States, Urban culture may also sometimes be used as a euphemistic reference to contemporary African American culture.- African American culture :...
fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
about magic and first love. It's based on a book by Israeli author Gadi Taub and is geared towards both children and adults as it tells the story of the magical summer that Assaf fell in love for the first time with a neighborhood girl and became close friends with the witch who lived on his street.
Summary
The Witch From Melchet Street is told from the perspective of a grown up Assaf, remembering what it was like to be young and in love and the quirky friend who helped him through it. Plagued by her own broken heart, the three-hundred-year-old witch (with a surprisingly youthful appearance) finds it easy to sympathize with her little neighbor friend, who’s spending his summer pining over a little neighborhood girl who hardly acknowledges his existence.Nearly two decades after the summer Assaf is still gripped by his memories. Since then, the little girl has grown up and moved away, but Assaf never left. “When you live in the house you grew up in, your childhood is always right beside you,” he explains. “You buy cigarettes where you used to buy popsicles, you sit at a cafe overlooking your old school.”
Now, when Assaf spots his first love wandering through his neighborhood, he can’t help but follow a few steps behind her, keeping her hot pink dress in sight at all times. As he watches her walk, he can't help but remember the brassy little girl who, long ago, showed no remorse while breaking his heart.
Awards
- Official Selection in IstanbulIstanbulIstanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
Children's Film Festival, 2007 - Official Selection in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
Children's Film Festival, 2007
See also
Other dramas set modern in Israel:- AlilaAlilaAlila is a 2003 Israeli film directed by Amos Gitai and starring Yaël Abecassis, Uri Klauzner, and Hanna Laslo. The drama follows half a dozen very different characters through their lives in modern day Israel, giving Gitai an opportunity to comment on his country's top social issues.The film...
- The Postwoman
- You Don't Say
- Time of FavorTime of FavorTime of Favor is Israeli writer-director Joseph Cedar's 2000 debut film, starring Aki Avni. The film plays out a psychologically complex love triangle in the middle of terrorist conflict in Israel's West Bank....