Father with God

Nadav Gedalya (33) is an experienced musician and journalist. He has been noted in the media as one of 30 desirable bachelors. His personal film "Single with God" where he tells his story of getting married without being part of a defined religious sector, became very popular and has thousands of views. Nadav's self confidence increases even further when he receives his MA in the Humanities with honors, establishing him as an accomplished writer with his own column.
His eldest daughter Talia, (4), praises his fatherhood and shines until Eden arrives, a sensitive and gentle boy that completely undermines Nadav's self-confidence. Nadav soon discovers that despite all of his success, he has no idea how to calm his new son who is now a two year old toddler who has a hard time dealing with life, stubborn and crying over every little thing (with some resemblance to his dramatic father).
Nadav is conflicted: he is unable to restrict the child since he does not want to upset him, but at the same time he cannot live in peace with the chaos at home. He is depressed, feeling guilty and ashamed and this leads him to stay in his room and later to escape to spend time with friends. He is shocked at the intensity of the complex fatherhood he is suddenly dealing with, reminding him that he is incompetent in the most natural and important role, that he never imagined could be this hard. In contrast, parenthood comes naturally and easily to his wife Hila. This leads to him feeling jealousy towards her.
On a tiring journey to get away, Nadav finds himself feeling shame and guilt. He is supposedly doing "what is required of him", working and helping at home but he feels an emptiness inside. He believes and knows there is a different kind of fatherhood, much more present and loving but has no way of obtaining it. The unpleasant feelings, together with the escape to "happier" places outside, create inner pressure that is hard to reduce and Nadav (who constantly films the occurrences) is shown feeling physical pain, dizziness and a real fear that he could die from this.
He has trouble determining what he feels, but it looks and feels bad, especially as it is so hard to define.
Gradually, through his funny 4 years old daughter Talia, Nadav rediscovers fatherhood with Eden, who reminds him of himself, feeling pain and fleeing to his creativity and career in order to feel his worth. Once he understands this, Nadav chooses to be reborn and connect to his authentic roots and to draw strength from them. He never thought he would cry so much in the process, until all the parts of him that were in hiding, open up and heal. Nadav "burns" in a tunnel of negative feelings, making his way towards his child's heart. He discovers the true, pure, loving child beneath the cynicism, the pretension and the external self-confidence.
The process appears to be painful and the tears flow endlessly, but the primordial-modern insistence on natural and sincere bonding with his son Eden, motivates him to stop running from what he feels and to love purely, without applause and an audience, unconditional, as he never imagined he could love.
This effort to connect to fatherhood is extremely surprising, as Nadav discovers that as a result his children are blooming, writing songs with a fascinating sub-text that has to do with his life.

About the filmmaker

Nadav Gedalya - filmmaker, actor, musician and journalist, known for his unique personal writing and directing style. In the last 15 years, he had created hundreds of articles and reports on culture, philosophy and media for leading media outlets, as well as books he has published.
He played on television and has independently produced a range of projects, including the successful film, "Single man with God" (42 minutes), the online series "Giladi will sell you", the film "Pension" (20 minutes, drama), a personal music album, singles and music videos.