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The first feature for an Israeli director of documentaries, television dramas, and children's shows, Sodot Mishpaha (Family Secrets) is an unusual love story between 14-year-old Rivi and her cousin living in the U.S., 15-year-old Shauli. The two youngsters meet every summer at their grandparents and one summer discover the pains of first love. Uncle Alfred, a rich and mysterious Holocaust survivor walks in on their first lovemaking; he brutally chases Rivi out and stays with Shauli. That night he is found dead in his room. Seventeen years later, the grandfather dies and leaves the estate to Rivi, who is now thirty and divorced, and to Shauli, who is married to an American. The reunion of the cousins brings back the memories of that horrifying and enchanting summer. Rivi is shocked but relieved to hear that, although Shauli intended to kill the uncle with a knife, he found him hanging when he arrived in his room; 17 years of remorse and anguish is suddenly released. Sodot Mishpaha was screened at the 1999 Festival of Films-Mumbai .