Assaf Machnes
WHERE TO?
The different taxi rides across the city of Berlin between Hassan, a middle aged Palestinian Uber driver, and young Israeli who gets lost in the city, tell a tragic-comic story about moving forward.
SYNOPSIS
In Berlin’s sleepless nights, Hassan, a 55-year-old Palestinian Uber driver, shuttles strangers from one climax to another while his own life feels stuck, in place. Estranged from his eldest daughter who’s determined to marry her German boyfriend, Hassan drifts through the streets, purposeless. One night, Amir, a 25-year-old Israeli tourist exploring his sexual identity far from home, stumbles into Hassan’s cab. Months later, Amir reappears again, now living in Berlin, gradually spiraling into heartbreak after a fleeting love affair. As their rides together continue across two years, Hassan begins seeing echoes of his own buried pain in Amir’s struggles. Through their late-night drives, Hassan confronts the past that exiled him from his homeland and finally shares his own story out loud with the world. Based on real life stories of expats from the holy land, ״ Where To? ״ depicts an unannounced father-son relationship between two people from both sides of the fence, perhaps offer.
DIRECTOR
Assaf Machnes
PRODUCER
Tomer Mecklberg, Haim Mecklberg, Estee Mecklberg (2 Team Productions); Oren Rogovin (Rogovin Brothers); Luis Singer (Iconoclast Germany),;Guy Shani (Lev Cinema); Mohamad Babi (independent producer)
PRODUCTION COMPANY
2-Team Production, Rogovin Brothers, Iconoclast Germany, Lev Cinema
COUNTRY
Israel, Germany
GENRE
Fiction
Assaf Machnes
ASSAF MACHNES is a writer-director based in Tel Aviv and Berlin. Assaf‘s shorts were selected for festivals such as Venice Biennale, Berlinale, Locarno, Sarajevo, BFI London, Palm Springs, Seattle, Raindance and Cannes Series. His films have won numerous awards, and were sold for distribution to HBO, RAI, Télé-Québec, Mediaset, ARTE ZDF, SBS, SVT, Pacific Voice and more. Assaf‘s first series GIMEL gained more than a million views in Israel and was broadcast on ARTE, RBB and YNET. An alumni of Locarno‘s Filmmakers Academy, and Berlinale Talent‘s program, Assaf is now in the edit of his debut feature film, while developing a series with Bold Films.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Like most of my projects, this film began from real life. In 2020, during Berlinale, I took a ride with a Palestinian Uber driver in Berlin. It was tense at first, but during that 30-minute drive, something shifted. We shared a quiet, conflicted connection — one shaped by exile, guilt, and identity. Months later, I moved to Berlin for work, for friends — and mostly, for a love that ended badly. These experiences became the heart of my film: two characters from opposite sides of the Holy Land, both in Berlin after failed love stories, crossing paths. Hassan can’t move forward until he shares his story — and Amir helps him do that when the car breaks down. The film doesn’t offer easy hope, but it offers a real one — rooted in complexity, irony, and humanity. That’s the tone I love most: absurd, painful, and full of heart. This story feels like the most urgent one I have to tell right now.
Haim Mecklberg
Production company profile
2-TEAM PRODUCTIONS is one of the leading Israeli film production companies, focusing on cross-over feature films – films with highly artistic content and outstanding audience appeal. 2-Team's films participate in all major international film festivals, including Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Toronto, and Sundance, and are distributed worldwide by reputable companies such as Beta Cinema, Films Boutique, Pyramide International, MK2, Fandango, Samuel Goldwyn Films and Memento.
Where are we at?
TOTAL ESTIMATED BUDGET
600.000 €
NEEDED FOR COMPLETION
60.000 €
Looking for at CineLink?
post-production support and international partnerships - finishing funds, sound and color grading services, and potential collaborations with sales agents, co-producers, and festival programmers