Cinema Sabaya

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 byOrit Fouks Rotem
Written byOrit Fouks Rotem
Produced byRoi Kurland, Gal Greenspan, Maya Fischer, Orlaine Bodino, Ryan Vialva
StarringDana Ivgi, Amal Murkus, Marlene Bejali, Ruthie Landau, Haula Haj-Divsi, Joanna Said, Yulia Tagil, Asil Farhat, Orit Samuel, Liora Levy.
CinematographyItay Marom
Edited byNeta Dvorkis
Music byKarni Postel
Production
company
Green Productions
Release date
2021
CountryIsrael
LanguagesHebrew
Arabic
English
Box office$69,609[1][2]

Plot

A 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
  • 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

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, United King Films, 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.[5]

Reception

On 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

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.[8][9][10]

Accolades
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
  1. "Cinema Sabaya". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  2. "Cinema Sabaya". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  3. Baughan, Nikki. "Cinema Sabaya: Review". Screen. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  4. "Israeli Oscar Contender "Cinema Sabaya" Acquired by Kino Lorber". womenandhollywood.com. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  5. Goodfellow, Melanie (21 September 2022). "Oscars: Israel To Submit 'Cinema Sabaya' In International Film Category Following Ophir Win". Deadline. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  6. "Cinema Sabaya". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  7. "Cinema Sabaya". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  8. "Cinema Sabaya wins 2022 Ophir Award, to represent Israel at Oscars". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  9. 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.
  10. "Festival restores faith in film's capacity to engage with reality". Morning Star. 31 October 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  11. פרס וייל בלוך 2021 - 'סינמה סבאיא' בבימוי אורית פוקס רותם והפקת גרין פרודקשנס, זוכה פרס הראשון, retrieved 7 December 2022
  12. "Cinema Sabaya (2021) Awards & Festivals". mubi.com. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  13. "Cinema Sabaya wins 2022 Ophir Award, to represent Israel at Oscars". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  14. "2022 Filmmaker Awards". Toronto Jewish Film Festival. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  15. "THE CAMERA OF DAVID AWARDS 2022! - WJFF". wjff.pl. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  16. "Niff Nice Israel Film Festival Niff Cinema Nice Israel Film Festival | Nice isra". niff 2022 (in French). Retrieved 7 December 2022.
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