THE MATCHMAKER opens 12/14 @ Landmark's Opera Plaza December 14, 2012

Arik, a teenage boy growing up in Haifa in 1968, gets a job working for Yankele Bride, a matchmaker. Yankele, a mysterious Holocaust survivor, has an office in the back of a movie theater that shows only love stories, run by a family of seven Romanian dwarves in the seedy area by the port. Yankele introduces Arik to a new world, built on the ruins of an old one. As Arik begins to learn the mysteries of the human heart through his work with Yankele, he falls in love with Tamara, his friend Beni's cousin. Tamara has just returned from America and is full of talk of women's rights, free love and rock and roll. The disparate parts of Arik's life collide in unexpected, often funny and very moving ways as he lives through a summer that changes him forever. Avi Nesher's latest film mixes comedy with drama as it tells a coming-of-age story unlike any you've ever seen before.

THE MATCHMAKER stars 17-year-old Tuval Shafir playing the role of Arik, and comedian Adir Miller as Yankele Bride. Other cast members include Maya Dagan (“Domino”), Dror Keren (5 Hours from Paris), Neta Porat (“Pillars of Smoke”), and Eyal Shechter (Year Zero). Written and directed by Avi Nesher, known for both his Israeli and Hollywood films (The Troupe, Rage and Glory, Doppleganger), THE MATCHMAKER is his third feature-length film since returning to Israel.

Nominated for 7 Israeli Academy Awards, including Best Picture
Official Selection, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival 2011
Official Selection, Toronto International Film Festival 2010
Silver Plaque Award, Chicago International Film Festival 2010
Opening Night Film, Los Angeles Israeli Film Festival 2010
Audience Award - Best Feature Film, Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival 2011
Panavision Audience Choice Award - Best Israeli Film, Israel Film Festival NY 2011

“Beautiful, honest, insightful…THE MATCHMAKER is a surprise…as satisfyingly eccentric and unexpected as anything we’ve seen.” –Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

“Terrific. Exotic and yet familiar, Fellini-esque…THE MATCHMAKER is a fascinating Euro-Israeli rite of passage story.” –James Verniere, The Boston Herald

Running time: 112 minutes. Not rated. In Hebrew with English subtitles.

For tickets and showtimes: http://www.landmarktheatres.com/tickets

Official film website: http://www.menemshafilms.com/the-matchmaker-once-i-was.html

Trailer: