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.
Plot A group of Arab and Jewish women attend a video workshop at a community center run by Rona, a filmmaker from Tel Aviv who teaches them to document their lives. As each student shares footage from her home life, the participants discuss their beliefs and preconceptions. The women interact as mothers, daughters, wives, and members of their community. Inspired by writer and director Orit Fouks Rotem's experiences as a teacher, Cinema Sabaya depicts the group's conversations and interactions as they participate in the workshop.
Cast 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 - a Russian-speaking Israeli 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 Arab 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 The 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, , The Israel Lottery Council for Culture & Arts, and Other Israel.
Release Before 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.
Reception
Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Awards and nominations Cinema 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.
Accolades Awards Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result RefJerusalem Film Festival2021Best Debut Film Award Orit Fouks Rotem and Green ProductionsWeil Bloch Award Best FilmCinema SabayaWarsaw IFF Jury Special Mention & NETPAC AwardFICER Audience AwardOphir AwardsSeptember 18, 2022Best FilmGreen ProductionsBest DirectorOrit Fouks RotemBest Supporting ActressJoanne SaidBest Costume DesignRachel Ben DahanBest CastingEmmanuelle Mayer Best ActressDana IvgiBest editNeta DvorkisBest ScreenwriterOrit Fouks RotemBest original musicKarni PostelBest soundtrackShahaf WagshallBest Director of photographyItay MaromBest Makeup ArtistOrly RonenToronto Jewish Film Festival2022Micki Moore AwardCinema SabayaWarsaw Jewish Film FestivalCamera Of David for the Best Feature FilmNice Israël Film Festival Mimosa d'or Award for best film
References
External links
Official Trailer Exclusive Q&A // SHIRA HAAS with Cinema Sabaya’s team (Israel’s Official Oscars Entry 2023)