Ash on the Vine

Ash on the Vine Synopsis

It is 1989, Israel, Gideon is doing a Phd in philosophy, specialising in 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation Holocaust survivors. Sami is an IDF soldier. She is withdrawn and seemingly depressed. Gideon is called in to see if he can help her become more sociable and better integrated into the army. One of Sami’s meetings with Gideon and consequently her mother, Avi, takes place in an Arab hotel opposite the IDF barracks where Rahima, a young Palestinian woman, works. The meetings are captured on CCTV. On the back of Sami and Gideon’s talk, Sami goes home to the vineyard, where she lives with her parents and grandparents, for her 20th birthday and confronts her grandmother, Ella, about never divulging her WW2 experiences as a Holocaust survivor. Reluctantly, and with much trepidation, Ella - who is constantly shadowed by Nickolas, the dog - agrees to open the door to her locked memories to help her granddaughter. When David Ben-David and Ella met in Atlit detention camp in British Mandated Palestine after WW2 ended, Ella was already in the early throes of pregnancy. It is a secret that the couple have kept from the rest of their family for forty-four years. During their stay in Atlit, David saved Ella from being sexually assaulted by Fritz, a German Third Reich officer, who had been captured by the British and was tactically detained in Atlit to keep the Jews in check. In 1989 Ella unravels her story of tragedy, self-blame, and the long journey of escape from Lithuania to Haifa. Fritz, after his detainment in Atlit, altered his looks and went to live in Ramallah. He changed his name to Tariq Farez. In 1989, he has an associate in the newly formed Hamas and after seeing CCTV footage of Sami with her mother in the Arab hotel, the family resemblance is unmistakable and he grows excited by the prospect of settling old scores. In 1989 Sami begins to come out of her shell and falls in love with someone her mother and grandmother don't approve of. Meanwhile, Avi has a car accident and ends up in hospital. When she comes home, David tells Avi that he is not her biological father. Rahima whose father’s life was saved by an Israeli doctor, turns against Tariq and informs Gideon about the proposed attack. The Ben-Davids are forewarned. Plans are put in place to foil the attack. Recognising Fritz from a photo, Ella steals a gun from her son-in-law’s drawer. On the day, when Fritz has his gun pointing at David, Ella runs out of the house screaming and firing at Fritz. She kills Fritz who goes down shooting. His deathly bullet hits Nickolas who was leaping up in front of Ella. As Nickolas falls to the ground, Ella trips over him and dies of a heart attack. All secrets have been exposed and transparency has helped the family confront their demons. Still in mourning, the family visit Cyprus. Avi meets her biological father on a bus going to the small village where Ella - one of a handful of Jews - was detained by the British when trying to get to the Holy Land during WW2.