The premiere of the first episode of HOT corporation's new drama series, "Northern Wind," starring Michael Aloni, was held in Tel Aviv. Directed by Assaf Berenstein (known for directing the first season of the popular TV series "Fauda"), the script for "Northern Wind" was co-written by screenwriter Amit Cohen ("Traitor") and writer Daniel Shinar ("Red Skies").
Despite the challenges of quarantine, work on the story continued, and filming commenced as soon as restrictions were lifted.
While lead actor Michael Aloni confessed to The News of Israel that everything around him seems different after October 7, Assaf Berenstein did not comment on whether any changes were made to the series after the start of the war. He emphasized that "Northern Wind" is a series about the crucial service performed by Israeli intelligence units.
Similar to many Israeli popular dramas, "Northern Wind" revolves around one of the army units tasked with making dramatic decisions to safeguard the country from war.
The series kicks off with security forces uncovering an unprecedented threat that necessitates extraordinary efforts to neutralize. In this case, the main characters serve in intelligence unit 8200, which collaborates with the artificial intelligence system "Medium." This system not only assists in tracking and detecting the enemy but also makes autonomous decisions and communicates with its operators using their own voices, reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the Wachowski sisters' "The Matrix."
Despite its star-studded cast of Israeli drama veterans such as Michael Aloni, Elisha Banai, and Lucy Ayoub, "Northern Wind" may disappoint with some secondary conceptual and visual choices.
However, the series' premise, where an intelligence unit discovers Hezbollah militants living undetected in Israel, planning a terrorist attack, may feel less impactful given the changed Israeli reality post-October 7, 2023.
The once-strong belief in the reliability of the Israeli security system and admiration for heroic portrayals by fashionable actors may now be overshadowed by the harsh reality, as depicted in "Northern Wind."
However, as with past Israeli film productions, viewers can expect the intelligence officers to avert disaster at the last moment, reinforcing the myth of Israel's formidable intelligence service.
