Arabic Movie

"A brilliant and compelling look at [Israel’s] place within the Middle East through the cultural lens." (Amy Kronish) Described as “a little window… for Israeli society, especially Jewish society, to know better the region around it” (Jadaliyya), the Friday night tradition of watching an Arabic language film from Egypt was widely practiced by Israel’s Arabic-speaking Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews. Arabic Movie is a heart-warming homage to this weekly tradition and to Egyptian cinema’s influence on Israeli society. Directors Eyal Sagui Bizawe and Sara Tsifroni offer an unforgettable tapestry where questions of cultural, social, religious and linguistic identity all grapple with this dying tradition.