Our Loves, Avi Nesher & A Way Forward

Today on Face2Face, David Peck is joined by acclaimed Israeli filmmaker Avi Nesher to talk about his deeply moving new film, Our Loves. Against the backdrop of October 7, Nesher tells an intensely human story about people confronting fractured relationships, past mistakes and the possibility of second chances. We talk about trauma and redemption, fatherhood, choice, the transformative possibilities of cinema, and why catastrophe can suddenly clarify what matters most. Ultimately, our conversation keeps returning to love and not as sentimentality, but as something essential to survival and Avi’s belief that storytelling can help us understand ourselves, one another and perhaps even change a small part of the world.

Avi Nesher is one of Israel’s most acclaimed and influential filmmakers, with a career spanning nearly five decades as a writer, director and producer. His films have helped shape contemporary Israeli cinema while bringing its stories to international audiences, earning dozens of Israeli Academy Award nominations and multiple wins. He was recently honoured with the Academy of Israeli Motion Pictures’ Cinematic Excellence Award.

Beginning with The Troupe in 1978, Nesher has created an extensive body of work exploring identity, history, relationships, trauma and the complexities of Israeli life. His films include Rage and Glory, Turn Left at the End of the World, The Secrets, The Matchmaker, The Wonders, Past Life, The Other Story, Image of Victory and The Monkey House. Several of his features have been official selections at the Toronto International Film Festival.

His latest film, Our Loves, continues his exploration of trauma and the human condition, focusing not on the political or military dimensions of October 7, but on ordinary people confronting love, loss, choice and the possibility of redemption when everything familiar falls apart. For Nesher, cinema is fundamentally communal — a way of recognizing our shared humanity and perhaps finding meaning in the aftermath of tragedy.

David Peck is a writer, speaker, and award-winning podcaster who works at the intersection of storytelling, social change, and meaningful dialogue. As the host of Face2Face and former host of Toronto Threads on 640 AM, he has published over 800 in-depth interviews with some of the world’s most compelling thinkers, artists and storytellers, including Viggo Mortensen, Sarah Polley, Raoul Peck, Werner Herzog, Chris Hadfield, David Cronenberg, Jason Issacs, Gillian Anders