Manpower

Manpower presents a compassionate and riveting tale of four interwoven lives in the hub of Tel Aviv that intersect in irreversibly transformative ways. Meir, an outstanding police officer who’s put in charge of a special operation targeting foreign workers, is facing a financial crisis. Minibus driver Haim grieves quietly when his beloved son, daughter-in-law, and grandchild immigrate to Canada. Erez, the son of a Filipina, fights tooth and nail for his dream of serving in an IDF combat unit, while Bamba, a Nigerian housecleaner, believes hard work and good behavior will protect him from deportation. As the film’s disparate storylines snake together and apart, the actors deliver impressively understated performances that animate sparkling moments of humor as well as gut-wrenching scenes of heartbreak. Moving between scathing realism and subtle irony, Manpower raises powerful questions of belonging and uprooting, exile and immigration, home and family.