Long Distance

Synopsis

It is a fact of life that many human beings, often the residents of developing countries, are forced to search for work thousands of miles from their homeland. In addition to the difficulties inherent in being a foreigner in a strange land, and in often menial labour, there is a heavy emotional toll in living so far from one's close family and friends.
In most cases, the telephone is the only means of communication between loved ones over years. The film 'Long Distance' documents these conversations, taking place weekly in the city of Tel Aviv, from public telephones. Through these calls we are introduced to the heroes and heroines of this film, and to the minutiae of their relationships, managed almost entirely over the telephone.
For the migrant worker, the telephone calls home are a brief respite from the demands of a difficult job, from loneliness, and act as a reaffirmation of one's identity, while shoring up the motivation to stay the course and achieve the goals: usually saving a sum of money to help one's family survive and thrive.
All of the characters in the film have a close family member, husband, son, wife, child, or parent, with whom he or she maintains a relationship by phone. The conversation may be about practical everyday matters, such as fixing up the house, health, bringing up the children or even politics, but all the ingredients of intimacy: love, expectations, disappointment, anger and frustration, linger between the lines, while the very distance itself plays a distinct role in events between the parties.