Late Summer Blues is an Israeli feature film directed by Renen Schorr, written by Doron Nesher and produced by Ilan de Vries.
Restored after thirty years, this Israeli classic portrays the paradox of Israeli adolescence in raw, deeply human terms: the uncertainty, confusion, and playful embrace of the present are constantly tainted by the shadow of military service and the razor's edge of anxiety, only somewhat tempered by days at the beach and rock music.
This was the first time an organized group of high school seniors in Israel stood up and asked the government questions, instead of being conformists like their parents.. Two years later, Doron Nesher, then a young Israeli actor who had already taken part in George Roy Hill's The Little Drummer Girl, joined Schorr in writing the screenplay.
Parallel to that, they weren't able to raise funds from private investors, as the screenplay was much different than the other films depicting youth produced in Israel at the time.
The music and songs that accompany the film were chosen due to their iconic status in Israeli culture, each triggering emotions and thoughts deep in Israel's collective psyche.
During rehearsals, to connect the young cast to the 1960s feeling of "changing the world", Schorr and Nesher shared and studied a large collection of records (Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Janis Joplin), books (by Herbert Marcuse, Viktor Frankl and more) and films (Rebel Without a Cause, Hair, The Deer Hunter Alice's Restaurant, Breaking Away and more) with them.
It was screened at over 30 international film festivals, including: Toronto, Moscow, Chicago, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Dublin, Vienna, Vancouver and more.