SHOLEM- MOVIE DOCUMENTARY/NON-PROFIT

THE MOVIE DOCUMENTARY

SHOLEM-SOUL GOAL

STORYLINE

In 2020, the life of Devora, a Rabanit from the Orthodox community of Sunny Isles, Miami, was shaken after losing in an accident her 17-year-old son, Sholem. Before he departed, Devora promised to fulfill all his unfinished dream...

This documentary goes through those steps, inviting us to know a story of overcoming and learning.

SHOLEM-SOUL GOAL

SYNOPSIS

For Devora Benchimol and her family life took an unexpected turn when, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, her son Sholem went out riding a bicycle with his brother and was run over by a car

During the three days that Sholem struggled to get ahead, thousands of chains of prayers were generated in various countries around the world, among them in Spain, Argentina, South Africa, Israel, Chile, México and the United States.

On the day of the burial, the mandatory quarantine could not prevent a surprising summons. 5,000 people connected to virtually witnessed the farewell, while 300 cars packed into the cemetery. Even the person in charge of it was surprised: "Never having seen such a tribute." Although coming from an ordinary family Sholem was farewelled as a king.

Since then his memory is promoting solidarity and community actions until now. These demonstrations of affection generated in his mother several questions that we will address in the documentary, among them: Who was my son? What legacy did he come to leave? And of course, how to continue living without him.

SHOLEM-SOUL GOAL

SYNOPSIS

Despite the pain, Devora and her husband, Rabbi Yossi, and her other children, were not dejected. In a few months they decided to fulfill the promise they made to Sholem before leaving: To fulfill all his dreams. And what were those dreams? transmit his values. Sholem proclaimed "no bullying", solidarity and camaraderie.

On the other hand, as a soccer player and respectful of his tradition, his other desire was to be able to play a match in a stadium with his Kippa, part of his identity. Goal that reached the ears of the famous player David Beckham.

Who not only wrote them a letter and gave them some autographed t-shirts, but still wishes to fulfill Sholem´s dream and play soccer with kipa. Without a doubt, soccer was a vehicle to channel his ideals. From helping those who needed it, striving to be better, and above all "Be proud of who you are." Textual words that he said, when he decided to play with his yarmulke in matches, despite the charges and insults.

After his death, Devora and his family launched endless actions. Put together in no time the educational foundation "Sholem Corazón Valiente ", with the following pillars: First supports an academy that has its headquarters in Israel. Today it has more than 70 kids with scholarships between the ages of 4 and 12, playing soccer. It is directed by Sholem’ s brothers. In addition, Devora created mindfulness workshops for children and adolescents embracing his “values”.

One of the Foundation´s fundamental axis is: Helping Jewish and non-Jewish communities to improve its life conditions. With this purpose and in Sholem´s honor many activities took place including an ascent to the top of a volcano in Guatemala. The mission was bringing donations of food and hygiene items to a Mayan community in need in midst of the pandemia COVID-19. Trees were also planted in Sholem´s honor.

In this way, Devora decided to apply to her own life the very tools that she transmitted for years in her kabbala, coaching and meditation workshops. The documentary wants to reflect the transit through this grieving and proposes that the spectators be participants from a positive perspective and without low blows. Through this life story, we believe that others can be inspired to provide tools to those experiencing a similar situation. By staging how dreams may come true, we will be able to transmit his values, and to glimpse through Devora and her family´s history a luminous part of life, even in the face of a fatality, such as the death of a son.

NARRATIVE TREATMENT

Since Sholem's death, Devora feels the need to capture in a documentary the spiritual values of her son and transmit the, to the other adolescents. "Be proud of who you are" is one of the. In her words, "I want to strengthen the personal capacity of each person, wherever they are, whoever they are." On the other hand, Devora and her family invite us to explore how they manage to get ahead day by day. Resilience will be a central theme to unfold and stage from a hopeful and vital point of view. The idea is that Devora works as a common thread. Although Sholem is the engine of this story, his mother works as a protagonist to discover little by little. This will be achieved through observation sequences of their daily life in the community and through interviews. We can also see it in action teaching corporal expression or meditation. We will give body to Sholem through his photos and videos, his writings and by the characters who knew him and can tell why his death had such an impact on the world.

SHOLEM-SOUL GOAL

NARRATIVE TREATMENT

Interviews of the family nucleus and their friends will be included. The idea is that they are filmed in a dynamic way and are made in different places in Miami, such as their homes, the synagogue, the Foundation, and public spaces that reflect a warm atmosphere. The interview with his brother Menájem will be of utmost importance for having been in the accident. He will also give us another perspective on what it means to “lose a brother”.

He will share his looks, his feelings, and opinions with his other brother Dani, today at the head of the academy. Jaia will tell us how she experienced the accident living in another country. She will tell us how she managed to travel miraculously from Buenos Aires in the middle of the pandemic, and why she feels that Sholem waited for her those days in the hospital, so she could say goodbye in peace. On the other hand, the voice of Sholem's father, Rabbi Yossi, will be of great contribution. In addition to the bond, it was he who transmitted his love for soccer and his point of view from Judaism.

From follow-up sequences, tributes made for Sholem during 2021, such as his graduation, anniversary, and other charities will be recorded. The dreams that have been fulfilled will be seen, for example the “Sholem Brave Heart” academy. Also, by way of separators, the documentary will have brief moments of animation to illustrate the dreams to be fulfilled, in relation to soccer.

On the other hand, images from archives, news and chronicles of that moment, and photographs and videos of various past events with Sholem in life will be used, as well as videos with messages for him. Greetings from several top players from different parts of the world giving encouragement in the final days will be published.

As well as actions that were done in tribute, such as the ascent of a volcano in Guatemala to plant a tree and give donations to a Mayan community. In the end, an animation of Sholem playing with his kippah will be used as a resource, and it will alternate with a real game of David Beckam playing himself with his kippah, in his honor. The idea is to end with one of your dreams come true.

SHOLEM-SOUL GOAL

SHOLEM FUNDING

Sholem Corazon Valiente is a non-profit created in order to lay out the legacy of a teenager who has left his mark on other adolescents, and so that other teens can keep the memory of his values and his exemplary life.

As he himself had many challenges because of his many international relocations, he used to empathize with others facing hardships and always tried to help with a smile on his face.

Being proud of one’s own essence and who each one is, is one of the values that most interested Sholem. That’s why Sholem Corazón Valiente launched the Sholem Fund, an ambitious solidarity project that among other pursuits, grants funds to students who develop projects that seek to improve the world by generating meaningful impacts. We also carry out social support projects by distributing food and basic needs goods to families in Guatemala that need assistance.

As a promising professional soccer player, Sholem lived passionately his tie with soccer and the sort of relationships and learnings that the most popular sport in the word spreads out. Sholem’s passion for soccer was born from a very early age, thanks to his father. His dream was to become the first professional player to wear a kippah in the soccer field, in order to represent his strong Jewish pride. For this reason, in partnership with the Israeli club Beitar Jerusalem we are supporting the creation of the first soccer academy in the USA that respects Shabbat.

Since he was born, Sholem was in contact with Shogal mindfulness in motion technique, created by his mother, Devora Benchimol. The universal values and positive assertiveness that he has cultivated during his life have been borned thanks to the Shogal method. Practicing it during his upbringing helped him boost his emotional intelligence and self-confidence. This is why Sholem Corazon Valiente aims to make Shogal Kids and Shogal Teens techniques known to all people, by providing training courses for mindfulness facilitators that want to use it for their practices with children and teens.

This is why we need your help to make this possible, we are in need of $20,000 to make this possible. We With your help, we know we can produce the movie and also achieve our non-profit aims and objectives. as no donation is too small or too big, all donations are acceptable. Please support us by donating to make this possible.