Cinema Sabaya (Hebrew: סינמה סבאיא) is a 2021 Israeli drama film, directed by Orit Fouks Rotem and produced by the Israeli production company, Green Productions. It stars an all-female cast, including Dana Ivgi, Amal Murkus, Marlene Bejali, Ruthie Landau, Haula Haj-Divsi, Joanna Said, Yulia Tagil, Asil Farhat, Orit Samuel and Liora Levy. In 2022 the film was chosen as the official Israeli nominee for the Academy Award for Best International Film at the 95th Academy Awards. This followed its Ophir Award win for Best Feature Film (along with four additional Ophir Awards). Previously to that, it had also won the Best Debut Film Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival. On March 8, 2022, in celebration of International Women's Day, the film was chosen for a special screening at Beit HaNassi, the Israeli President's Residence. In November 2022 it was picked up by Kino Lorber for North American distribution rights.[3][4]
| Cinema Sabaya | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Orit Fouks Rotem |
| Written by | Orit Fouks Rotem |
| Produced by | Roi Kurland, Gal Greenspan, Maya Fischer, Orlaine Bodino, Rhian Vialva |
| Starring | Dana Ivgi, Amal Murkus, Marlene Bejali, Ruthie Landau, Haula Haj-Divsi, Joanna Said, Yulia Tagil, Asil Farhat, Orit Samuel, Liora Levy. |
| Cinematography | Itay Marom |
| Edited by | Neta Dvorkis |
| Music by | Karni Postel |
Production company | Green Productions |
Release date |
|
| Country | Israel |
| Languages | Hebrew Arabic English |
| Box office | $69,609[1][2] |
Plot
editA group of Arab and Jewish women attend a video workshop at a small town community center run by Rona, a young filmmaker from Tel Aviv, who teaches them to document their lives. As each student shares footage from her home life with the others, their beliefs and preconceptions are challenged and barriers are broken down. The group comes together as mothers, daughters, wives, and women living in a world designed to keep them apart, forming an empowering and lasting bond as they learn more about each other... and themselves. Inspired by writer/director Orit Fouks Rotem's own experiences as a teacher, Cinema Sabaya presents a deft and heartfelt portrait of art's capacity to unite disparate communities, moving effortlessly between the gravity of their conversations and the genuine joy generated by this unlikely group of friends.
Cast
edit- Dana Ivgi - director and host of the workshop.
- Liora Levy - a lonely woman, a sailor who lives on a yacht.
- Marlene Bajali - an elderly Arab woman who gives advice to the participants from her life experience.
- Yulia Tagil - an Israeli of Russian origin who lives with her daughters and with her mother after her divorce.
- Ruthie Landau - a librarian who is in the second chapter of her life after divorcing an abusive husband.
- Orit Samuel - a married woman whose depressive husband is distant from her.
- Amal Murkus - a lawyer and social and political activist who dreamed of becoming a singer.
- Asil Farhat - a young Palestinian woman who challenges the conservative lifestyle in her environment.
- Joanna Said - mother of six, religious woman who wants to get a driver's license but is afraid of her husband's reaction.
Production
editThe film was co-produced by Roi Kurland, Gal Greenspan and Maya Fischer from the Israeli production company, Green Productions (Israel). It was co-produced by Neon Rouge (Belgium) and supported by the Israeli Film Fund, Wallonia-Brussels Federation, The Weil-Bloch Foundation, The New Fund for Cinema and Television, Israel Film Council and The Ministry of Culture and Sports, United King Films, The Israel Lottery Council for Culture & Arts, and Other Israel.
Release
editBefore its debut, in June 2021 the film was picked up by French sales company, Memento International. The film later debuted at the 2021 Jerusalem Film Festival and was then commercially released in Israel by United King (September 2022). In November 2022 it was picked up by Kino Lorber for North American distribution rights.[5]
Reception
editOn the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 12 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.20/10.[6] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[7]
Awards and nominations
editCinema Sabaya won the Best Debut Film Award at the Jerusalem Festival and five Ophir Awards: Ophir Award for Best Feature Film, Ophir Award for Best Director to Orit Fouks Rotem, Ophir Award for Best Supporting Actress awarded to Joanna Said, Ophir Award for Best Costume Design awarded to Rachel Ben Dahan, Ophir Award for Best Casting awarded to Emanuel Meyer. The film won the Weil Bloch Award for 2021. The award was presented by Gal Gadot. The film was nominated to represent Israel in the category of best foreign film at the Oscars.[8][9][10]
Accolades
edit| Awards | Date of Ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerusalem Film Festival | 2021 | Best Debut Film Award | Orit Fouks Rotem and Green Productions | Won | |
| Weil Bloch Award | 2021 | Best Film | Cinema Sabaya | Won | [11] |
| Warsaw IFF | 2021 | Jury Special Mention & NETPAC Award | Cinema Sabaya | Won | [12] |
| FICER | 2021 | Audience Award | Cinema Sabaya | Won | |
| Ophir Awards | September 18, 2022 | Best Film | Green Productions | Won | [13] |
| Ophir Awards | September 18, 2022 | Best Director | Orit Fouks Rotem | Won | [13] |
| Ophir Awards | September 18, 2022 | Best Supporting Actress | Joanne Said | Won | [13] |
| Ophir Awards | September 18, 2022 | Best Costume Design | Rachel Ben Dahan | Won | [13] |
| Ophir Awards | September 18, 2022 | Best Casting | Emmanuelle Mayer | Won | [13] |
| Ophir Awards | September 18, 2022 | Best Actress | Dana Ivgi | Nominated | [13] |
| Ophir Awards | September 18, 2022 | Best edit | Neta Dvorkis | Nominated | [13] |
| Ophir Awards | September 18, 2022 | Best Screenwriter | Orit Fouks Rotem | Nominated | [13] |
| Ophir Awards | September 18, 2022 | Best original music | Karni Postel | Nominated | [13] |
| Ophir Awards | September 18, 2022 | Best soundtrack | Shahaf Wagshall | Nominated | [13] |
| Ophir Awards | September 18, 2022 | Best Director of photography | Itay Marom | Nominated | [13] |
| Ophir Awards | September 18, 2022 | Best Makeup Artist | Orly Ronen | Nominated | [13] |
| Toronto Jewish Film Festival | 2022 | Micki Moore Award | Cinema Sabaya | Won | [14] |
| Warsaw Jewish Film Festival | 2022 | Camera Of David for the Best Feature Film | Cinema Sabaya | Won | [15] |
| Nice Israël Film Festival | 2022 | Mimosa d'or Award for best film | Cinema Sabaya | Won | [16] |
References
edit- ^ "Cinema Sabaya". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ "Cinema Sabaya". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ Baughan, Nikki. "Cinema Sabaya: Review". Screen. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- ^ "Israeli Oscar Contender "Cinema Sabaya" Acquired by Kino Lorber". womenandhollywood.com. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (21 September 2022). "Oscars: Israel To Submit 'Cinema Sabaya' In International Film Category Following Ophir Win". Deadline. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- ^ "Cinema Sabaya". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
- ^ "Cinema Sabaya". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
- ^ "Cinema Sabaya wins 2022 Ophir Award, to represent Israel at Oscars". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
- ^ Dalton2022-11-18T09:22:00+00:00, Ben. "Lebanon, Tunisia titles to spring a surprise? Rounding up the Oscar contenders from Africa and Middle East". Screen. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Festival restores faith in film's capacity to engage with reality". Morning Star. 31 October 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
- ^ פרס וייל בלוך 2021 - 'סינמה סבאיא' בבימוי אורית פוקס רותם והפקת גרין פרודקשנס, זוכה פרס הראשון, retrieved 7 December 2022
- ^ "Cinema Sabaya (2021) Awards & Festivals". mubi.com. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Cinema Sabaya wins 2022 Ophir Award, to represent Israel at Oscars". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- ^ "2022 Filmmaker Awards". Toronto Jewish Film Festival. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- ^ "THE CAMERA OF DAVID AWARDS 2022! - WJFF". wjff.pl. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- ^ "Niff Nice Israel Film Festival Niff Cinema Nice Israel Film Festival | Nice isra". niff 2022 (in French). Retrieved 7 December 2022.
