Cabal in Kabul (French: Cabale à Kaboul) is a documentary film directed by Dan Alexe. It follows the life of two men, Zabulon Simantov and Yitzchak Levin who were last remaining Jews in Afghanistan.[1]
Cabal in Kabul | |
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Directed by | Dan Alexe |
Produced by | Serge Kestemont |
Starring | Zabulon Simantov Yitzchak Levin |
Release date |
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Running time | 87 minutes |
Country | Belgium |
Language | Dari with English subtitles |
Background
editZabulon and Isaac live in the courtyard of the synagogue in Kabul. Isaac, the eldest of the two, lives on the ground floor and sells amulets to his neighbors who are Muslims. Zebulon who lives on the upper floor sells illegally-produced wine.
Having known each other for many years and expressing jealousy over each other, they were arrested by the Taliban, but were released for their continued misbehavior even in jail.
Reception
editUnifrance said that the hatred between Zabulon and Isaac is "intense", making the movie far from dull despite the otherwise lonely and isolated existence.[2] Filmfest Hamburg labelled the film as a tragicomedy that explores the lingering pieces of a former society.[3]
Contrastingly, Jacques Mandelbaum of the French newspaper Le Monde wrote that the film worryingly did not show any sympathy for the subjects nor their hostilities towards each other. He criticized the filmmaker for taking a stance of indifference in its portrayal, and for attempting to exploit the pair's relationship.[4]
References
edit- ^ "Cabal in Kabul". Miami Jewish Film Festival. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
- ^ "Cabal in Kabul de Dan Alexe (2006) - Unifrance". en.unifrance.org.
- ^ "Cabale à Kaboul • FILMFEST HAMBURG". www.filmfesthamburg.de.
- ^ Mandelbaum, Jacques (16 October 2007). ""Cabale à Kaboul" : un jeu dangereux avec la réalité" (in French).