A young Yonatan Langer with his mom, Anna Langer Courtesy of Langer FamilyĪgassi, who is in his late 30s now, was born Yonatan Langer in Brooklyn, and grew up in Holon, outside Tel Aviv. It explores the downward spiral of a man ostensibly on top of the world, but whose craving for a kind of adulation masks deep wounds and unresolved trauma. It’s a film of startling intimacy-not so much sexual, but psychological intimacy. And I was curious to find out what that gap was.” Heymann adds, “I felt almost from the outset that there has to be some sort of gap between this fantasy that Jonathan represents to millions of people and what is actually happening inside. And for that, I had to go to all that length.” “I had to understand Jonathan and where he comes from and what he does. And that includes his profession and, of course, the tools used to take part in this profession, which is his penis,” Heymann says. “My origin point was that there was just something so powerful about Jonathan, which I wanted to find out about. 'The Staircase' Documentary Makers Request HBO Max Disclaimer For TV Drama After Being 'Betrayed' Director Tomer Heymann Courtesy of Mari Laukkanen