The Sea, directed by Shai Carmeli Pollak and produced by Baher Agbaria, previously reviewed on this blog, was the big winner of the Ophir Award last week, which means the film will represent Israel at the Academy Awards competition. In addition, the star of the film, 13-year-old Muhammad Gazawi, won the Ophir Award for best actor.
The choice of the film, which is mostly in Arabic, and is about a 12-year-old boy dreaming about being able to visit the Mediterranean Sea, angered the powers-that-be in Israel. Claiming that the film defames Israel and the IDF, the Ministry of Culture and Sports has declared the suspension of funding for the Ophir film awards in the future.
The Sea is a road movie, and as the boy
travels from his village near Ramallah towards the sea, it clearly shows the
dissonance between the reality of life on the occupied West Bank and normal life
in Tel Aviv. Perhaps just opening the eyes
of Israeli viewers to this contrast would be an enormous achievement. As
reported in Ha’aretz today, the filmmaker stated, “I don’t expect the
film to change minds, but maybe it can open a window, a crack, a glimpse into
another perspective.”
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