Writer Dror Shaul was the first Israeli artist to be accepted into Sundance`s prestigious screenwriter`s lab, and [Sweet Mud] is the bittersweet film that resulted from his work there. It is 12-year-old Dvir`s bar mitzvah year, and on the kibbutz he and his mother live on, his life takes a complicated turn when he comes to the realization that they are in fact outsiders - ironically abandoned in a society founded on mutual equality and care. Dvir`s mentally ill mother, Miri, is at the center of his world. Dvir struggles through his last year of childhood, dealing with shattered dreams and caring for his mother on his own, while trying to complete the tasks set before him ahead of his 13th birthday. The social constraints of the kibbutz eventually lead Dvir to make the ultimate outsider`s choice, a bitter decision that will change his life forever.