The Dreamer - a documentary about the well-known actor, Yosef Shiloah

The Dreamer, directed by Kobi Farag and Morris Ben-Mayor, opened this week at the Jerusalem Film Festival. The film is about the actor, writer and activist, Yosef Shiloah (1941-2011). Born in the part of Kurdistan that is part of Iran, he came to Israel with his parents at the age of 9. Shiloah appeared in dozens of films, both in Israel and abroad.  He is known for his roles in bourekas films (ethnic comedies), but my absolute favorites in which he appears in major roles are Passover Fever (directed by Shemi Zarchin) and Desperado Square (directed by Benny Torati).

Shiloah was also a writer, and much of what he has written is read to us by one of his daughters during the film.  He felt strongly that he remained a refugee all his life, an outsider due to his belonging to the Mizrahi ethnic group.

According to Shiloah, since Mizrahi Jews came from Arab lands and spoke Arabic, they had a certain affinity to Arab culture and a responsibility to working in the vanguard of bringing about a peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis.  His activism in this area was during the period of the 1^st and 2^nd intifadas and he was ostracized as a result, forcing him into exile with his family. 

The Dreamer (documentary, 105 minutes) is an important document about a man who was brave enough to speak up for peace even though it impacted severely on his life.  The film is available from Ben-Mayor & Farag Film Studio, benmayor.farag@gmail.com