This charming and entertaining debut feature from writer-director Eran Kolirin not only impressed the jury in this year’s Cannes Un Certain Regard section, but has won the hearts of audiences wherever it has played.
It tells the story of a small Egyptian police band that comes to Israel in the early 1990s to perform at an Arab cultural centre in Petah Tikva. When no one turns up to meet them they take matters into their own hands, but wind up stranded in the similarly named Beitha Tikva on the night of the Shabbat, with no transport expected until the following day. Fortunately Dina, the owner of the local café, takes them under her wing, providing lodgings for the bandmaster and billeting the other musicians around the town. During this strange and funny night, everyone comes to learn more about each other, but also about themselves.
“The film boasts the best roller-disco scene ever committed to celluloid.”
London Film Festival
Dir. Eran Korlinin - 2007 - Israel/France - 87 mins - Cert PG - Sony Pictures
