Yael Remen

Caregiver Yael Remen

When May Villareal, a young mother of two, suddenly loses her husband to a typhoon, she is forced to leave her children in the Philippines, and head to Tel Aviv to pursue work to support her family. She becomes the caregiver for an elderly woman named Sara Berman. Sara is abrasive, however, and May's first months in Israel are marred by conflict and hostility. Always fantasizing about returning home to her family in the Philippines, May nonetheless learns to speak Sara's language, and begins to understand her mentality. As time passes, the two women develop a close friendship. When May later falls in love with an Israeli man, and becomes pregnant with a son, she forgoes her dream to return home and remains in Israel, struggling between countries and families. Spanning a lifetime and beyond, CAREGIVER explores notions of home and ethnic identity, as May and her Israeli-born son grapple with the difficulties of existing in two worlds.