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Batim

Houses
Forum 2025
© Yaniv Linton
Sasha is young, non-binary, creative and has seemingly left their experience of migration and childhood trauma behind them. Yet in order to really become liberated from the ghosts of the past, they must face up to them on a transformative journey that leads through the ghostly house of an overcast, desolate Safed. Believed dead, the family dog Rem suddenly appears out of nowhere, becoming a loyal companion and a silent witness of their longing for belonging and healing. Forgotten history meets repressed memories, old video and diary recordings reveal scars that could come become open wounds at any moment. In their former parental home, queer artist Anna offers the traveller temporary shelter, warmth and support. Enchanted by Anna’s approach to life, it briefly seems possible for Sasha to find a home by creating a new narrative for their identity. With a radiant, sensitive Yael Eisenberg in the leading role, a way of staging corporeality with filigree precision and a poetic visual language that sticks to black and white, Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum’s enigmatic, contemplative feature debut tells the story of someone looking for themselves in a life marked by upheaval and hurt.
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by Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum (Director, Screenplay)
with Yael Eisenberg, Tali Sharon, Evgenia Dodina Israel / Germany 2025 Hebrew, Russian 98' Colour & Black/White World premiere | Debut film

With

  • Yael Eisenberg
  • Tali Sharon
  • Evgenia Dodina

Crew

Director Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum
Screenplay Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum
Cinematography Yaniv Linton
Editing Avishai Sivan
Music Rike Huy
Sound Design Rotem Dror
Production Design Sharon Isabella De Levi
Producers Elad Gavish, Adi Navon, Anatol Schuster, Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum
Co-Producer Ronen Ben Tal

Produced by

Marker Films

Bona Productions

Zwillingfilm

Photos

Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum

© Mor Shmoshkovitz

Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum is a filmmaker, photographer and actress. Born in Ukraine in 1984, she immigrated to Israel in 1990. A graduate of the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York and the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem, her short film Confession won the Short Independent Film prize at the Cinema South Festival in 2019. She acted in films like Kedma by Amos Gitai and Andante by Assaf Tager. Her photography, exploring identity and memory, has been showcased in exhibitions, including Waiting at the Nolobz Art Gallery in Tel Aviv in 2019. Houses is Tetelbaum’s debut feature film.

Filmography

2012 Mi At (Who Are You); short film 2014 Dag Ba-Maim (Water Fish); short film 2015 Kol Yom (Every Day); short film 2017 Vidui (Confession); short film 2025 Batim (Houses)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2025