SCMP: Gladiator II actor Lior Raz on Soda and PTSD ahead of Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival 2025
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""] Click to read the entire article on SCMP The Israeli actor will make his first visit to Hong Kong for November’s HKJFF, which features 22 films telling Jewish stories Kylie Knott Published: 12:15pm, 22 Oct 2025Updated: 6:17pm, 22 Oct 2025 Israeli actor Lior Raz has played his fair share of tough-guy roles. In the action-packed Netflix series Fauda, Raz draws on his real-life experiences in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to play the protagonist, Doron Kavillio. His commando skills were again on show in the 2021 series Hit & Run, while last year he flexed hard in the Ridley Scott-directed blockbuster Gladiator II, where he played Viggo, who was tasked with training young fighters. But lately, Raz has revealed a softer side. His emotions were laid bare in the six-part unscripted Netflix travel series, Off Road, that saw him explore not only Central Asia but also his deeper feelings. The actor also shifted gears in the 2024 drama Soda, one of the features screening at this year’s Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival (HKJFF), taking place from November 8 to 16. Lior Raz (right) in a scene from Soda. Photo: Boaz Yehonathan Yaakov Starring Raz and Israeli actress Rotem Sela, Soda focuses on a community of Holocaust survivors in 1950s Israel that is shaken by rumours that a beautiful new arrival may have been a Nazi collaborator. The name Soda has two meanings, says Raz via video call. It refers to sparkling water – the film is set in a community that runs a soda bottling plant – and also means “her secret” in Hebrew. Inspired by the real-life events of its director, Erez Tadmor, Soda explores themes of love, guilt, trauma and the challenges of rebuilding lives after the Holocaust. The film Soda is inspired by the real-life experiences of its director, Erez Tadmor. Photo: HKJFF “Like everyone who came to Israel after...
