The film is a romantic
comedy that takes place in Israel during the
austerity period of the 1950s. The main character is Alex, a 12-year-old boy who is about to turn 13 and attend his
bar mitzvah. Alex comes from a poor,
dysfunctional family of
Polish Jewish origin whose poverty requires them to share their apartment. Their tenant is Faruk, a man whose humorous battle against baldness is a running bit in the film. At first, Alex falls in love with Mimi, the new girl in his class. Everything changes, however, when his aunt Lola arrives in Israel from Poland to search for a lost love with whom she once lived but who vanished after the
Nazi invasion of Poland. Alex falls for his aunt and she responds by providing the soon-to-be 13-year-old with more than familial love. The film
authentically recreates the
atmosphere of the country in the 1950s, known as the
Austerity in Israel, including the
black market, radio broadcasts concentrating on the search for lost relatives, music and pastimes of the 1950s and the
era's clothing and dress styles. == Production and Distribution ==