Do You Believe in Love? (Daniel Wasserman, 2013): Kolnoa

Reviewed by Kelly Bader. Viewed at Santa Barbara Film Festival 2014.

Three years in the making “Do You Believe in Love?” is a documentary film from Israel that made its US premier at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.  It was an early morning, queuing up for admittance with a chill in the air and most of us looking for a cup of coffee.  The producer, Barak Heymann, presented the film to the audience.  He appeared to be a gracious man who thanked us all for coming out so very early to view his film.  The audience was not disappointed.

This documentary was based around an old profession, matchmaking.  Tova, the matchmaker, has been making matches for many years.  She is now disabled and no longer has control of her body.  We see that her mind is a sharp as it probably ever was.  Tova meets her clients at her home, seated in a large recliner chair.  Her family and the help of a caregiver must do every necessity for her.

We follow Tova as she does her work.  Helping all kinds of men and women to find life partners.  Tova fires question after question at her clients, with her daughter taking notes, however in actuality everything is committed to her memory.

Not only do we meet Tova, we are introduced to her family.  Gabi, the gruff husband who can be seen answering the phone and telling people to call back later or that we don’t have any female clients under age twenty.

The run time is very short, approximately 50 minutes.  However, in that short amount of time the audience finds itself fully invested in the characters.  My initial thought was that the film could have been longer; there was more to see and learn about Tova.  In the end we have to trust that the director and editor gave us just what we needed to tell their story.