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Lost and found

(animated short, 4:07 min, israel, 2019)

A young boy gets lost in a busy shopping mall, foreshadowing the story of his falling as a soldier in the Israel-Lebanon War of 1982.

Yuval Harel was killed in the First Lebanon War, one day after his namesake and neighbor, Yuval Harel, also fell in battle. The tragic story of the Army's representatives' confusion over the identity of two Harel families in Jerusalem is well known in Israeli lore. However, that story, immortalized in the collective memory of Yuval, long overshadowed the memory of him as a boy and a young man. It seems that no one was interested in his memory, just in the horrifying case of mistaken identity. In this animated movie about Yuval Harel we want to make this right, and immortalize Yuval – telling the story of the person he was for the very first time.

4-year-old Yuval and his father go shopping in a mall while on a trip to Canada. Yuval is dizzy at all the glitz and glamor, follows his eyes and gets lost. In this "lost" state, Yuval sets off on a voyage and discovers new worlds. Meanwhile, his father is looking for him, crazy with worry. Eventually, Yuval finds a very inventive way to reunite with his father. The moment Yuval is found is a moment of great relief and joy. Yuval's death in war paints the moments of separation and loss in the mall in even more dramatic colors.

Yuval Harel, circa 1980

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