In the lounge of the 57th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF), Yoav Hornung sips a cocktail. Yoav is a young Israeli filmmaker who has his tense and reflective dramatic short film, Deserted, showing in one of the shorts programs. I sat down with him to discuss his new film, its controversy, its funding process, and some details on his recently co-founded start-up, Veed.Me:
(Warning: Contains spoilers)
Are you enjoying bringing your film around the festival circuit?
It’s very exciting. I worked very long on the film and it’s probably the most rewarding experience. To see it on the big screen with other people watching it, so far it’s been amazing.
The premise is something you’re personally familiar with, can you touch on how you came up with the story for Deserted and for those who don’t know, how military obligations work in Israel?