A coincidental encounter propels Aya, who is waiting for her husband at the airport, to pick up a complete stranger instead. The immediate sense of intimacy that sparks between the two ends abruptly when the man disappears, leaving Aya with a key to his hotel room and a yearning that perhaps only a complete stranger can fulfil.

In “Dead Language”, directors Mihal Brezis and Oded Binnun expand their Oscar-nominated short “Aya” into a tender, quietly powerful feature about longing – longing for connection, for purpose, for something beyond the confines of everyday life. Marina Gandour (Tribeca FF)