Thriller

Prominent Israeli filmmaker Eran Riklis, known for his Middle-East set humanistic films “Lemon Tree,” “The Syrian Bride” and most recently “Reading Lolita in Tehran” feels angry and frustrated over the political leadership in Israel that has led nearly 4,000 entertainment industry names to boycott Israeli film institutions, viewed as “complicit in war crimes” in Gaza.

Riklis has been selected for the Tallinn’s TV Beats, Co-Financing Market (Nov. 7-8) with his upcoming TV drama “The Abduction of Yossele Schumacher,” commissioned by Israel commercial channel Keshet 12.

The filmmaker is eager to find European partners in Tallinn for his six-part drama thriller. But he alsohopes that anti-Israel sentiments from some parts of the global industry won’t impact his dream to bring to the screen yet another work building bridges between people. 

“Israel is not in the best [political] position and I hope that nothing political will stand between me and making the series,” he tells Variety in a video call from his home in Tel-Aviv. Similarly, Riklis feels sorry for the controversy over Israel’s Oscar entry “The Sea” featuring a young Palestinian boy, risking his life to go to the beach in Tel Aviv, and subsequent threat from Israel’s culture minister Miki Zohar to axe funding to the Israeli Film Academy. 

“I mentored ‘The Sea’s’ director Shai Carmeli Pollak when he attended the Sam Spiegel International Script Lab with the project. I loved the story and gave Shai confidence to direct it. I then saw the film at the Jerusalem Film Festival and cried for an hour and a half. It’s a simple yet complex story and absolutely beautiful.

The fact that the Israeli Film Academy voted for it [as Oscar entry] was a surprise, but it’s the best film that represents Israel right now. It’s good to join the [Oscar] race with this kind of story,” notes the filmmaker, a firm believer that art transcends political boundaries and that storytelling can open people’s hearts and minds.

“As a filmmaker, I want to remain optimistic,” says Riklis who was a 19-year old Israeli soldier during the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and lost many close friends. “I faced the Egyptian army for months. It was a horrible war. But then, who would have imagined that a few years later, in 1979, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat would sign a peace agreement [the Camp David Accords] with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, who had very right-wing views. So I always try to remember these events,” insists Riklis. “There are always people trying to make changes and succeeding; we need to have hope.”

Thriller series based on true events

After “Reading Lolita in Tehran” which tackled women resisting the oppressive clerical regime in Iran, Ricklis’ next project, the TV show “The Abduction of Yossele Schumacher,” looks at a different religious extremism, closer to home for the filmmaker. 

The story is based on the true case of the abduction in Israel of a seven-year-old Jewish boy, Yossele Schumacher, by his ultra-Orthodox grandfather in the early 1960s, to prevent him from being raised as a secular Jew by his parents. Following an intensive international search led by Israel’s secret services Mossad for nearly two years, the boy was eventually found in the U.S. and returned to his parents. According to the logline, the abduction “leads three women to clash over his fate and faith and to a fierce conflict between the Israeli Mossad and the impenetrable web of the orthodox community.”

Riklis, who was only six-to-seven years-old at the time of the events, has a vivid memory of the case that became a cause célèbre, dividing the Israeli society. “Overnight, from a small family dispute, the story became huge, opposing the secular and ultra-Orthodox population in Israel. Our Prime Minister at the time Ben Gurion was afraid the case would lead to a civil war, so he asked Mossad to intervene,” Riklis explains, before adding: “With no documentary made about the case, the Yossele Schumacher story felt like an old memory being lost, until three years and a half ago, when I spoke to someone who mentioned it. I contacted Yossele, found him and told him about my idea to bring his story to television. He said “yes and yes again. I’ve just been waiting for this to happen!”

Riklis then contacted seasoned screenwriter Moshe Zonder, known for “Fauda,” Apple TV+ spy thriller “Tehran” and the recent Series Mania winning show “The German.” The two had collaborated earlier on Riklis’ local hit “Zohat” (1993) and “Vulcan Junction” (1999). “I felt Moshe would be the perfect co-creator and co-writer of the series. He has a great skill in balancing drama and thriller, so I was thrilled when he agreed to board the project,” Riklis says. 

Digging deeper into the plot and storyline, the filmmaker says “the main dramatic thread will be the search for the kid, but the series will contain three dramatic layers. Firstly, the core of the story will be about three equally flawed women. Madeleine Feraille, Yossele’s abductor, a former French resistance fighter who converted to Judaism after WWII. Then the boy’s mother, Ida Schumacher, and the Mossad agent Judith Avrahami. For various reasons, the three women are grieving a child. “That’s the emotional core of the series,” says Riklis.

The second layer will be the thriller, with the Mossad search for the boy between Israel, Italy, Germany, France, England and the U.S.. “You will be on the edge of your seat, like with a Liam Neeson thriller,” promises the filmmaker. Then the third element will be the complex socio-political context, “with themes about oppression, liberalism, fate versus religion, the Rule of Law vs the Rule of God, issues that are as topical today as 60 years ago.”

“Ultimately, it’s about pain, love, parenthood, loss, faith, fanaticism and about secrets and lies on so many levels,” adds the filmmaker who feels the project has “all the right ingredients to turn into exciting and profound must-see television for everyone.”

The project, with an estimated budget of around €1.5 million ($1.7 million) per episode, is being produced by Riklis’ own shingle Eran Riklis Production and Moshe Edery of United King Films, one of Israel’s most-established production and distribution outfits and a long-time partner to Riklis. Israel’s commercial channel Keshet 12, is on board.

“At Keshet, we are passionate about telling Israeli stories that reflect our unique culture while resonating with audiences everywhere,” says Keshet 12 head of drama and comedy Karni Ziv. “With Eran Riklis at the helm, this project promises to be a moving family drama with a strong, suspenseful edge, and we are excited about its potential to connect with viewers both in Israel and beyond.” 

As one of eight projects selected for Tallinn’s TV Beats Co-Financing Market, part of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival’s Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, the series will vie for the coveted Council of Europe Series Co-Production Development Award worth €50,000 ($58,700).

“At Tallinn, I hope to find co-producers who love the project. I’m particularly looking for partners from traditional sources of financing – public funders, broadcasters, and also streamers,” says Riklis who hopes to go into production in November 2026.