Israeli director and screenwriter Nadav Lapid first worked as a sports journalist before embarking on a film career. He made three short films while studying at film school, and in 2008 he was selected to participate in the Cinéfondation Residence at the Cannes Film Festival, where he wrote the screenplay for his first feature film, Policeman. Shot two years later, the film follows the daily life of Yaron, a member of an Israeli counterterrorism unit that encounters a group of young far-left radicals. In 2013 he wrote and directed the film The Kindergarten Teacher, which was shown in a special screening as part of International Critics' Week at Cannes in 2014.

In it, Sarit Larry plays Nira, a schoolteacher who becomes infatuated with a five-year-old boy who possesses an astonishing gift for writing poetry. She decides to help him develop his talent, whatever the cost. Through his films, Nadav Lapid offers a unique view of his country's society, with characters at the crossroads of the public and private spheres, where politics and private life meet.