Bikur Ha-Tizmoret (2007)

Director:

Eran Kolirin

Writer:

Eran Kolirin (writer)

Release Date:

13 September 2007 (Israel)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Once-not long ago-a small Egyptian police band arrived in Israel. Not many remember this...It wasn't that important.

Plot:

A band comprised of members of the Egyptian police force head to Israel to play at the inaugural ceremony of an Arab arts center, only to find themselves lost in the wrong town.

Plot Keywords:

Small Town | Roller Skates | Orchestra | Israeli Arab | Israel

Awards:

32 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Sasson Gabai	...	Lieutenant-colonel Tawfiq Zacharya
Ronit Elkabetz	...	Dina
Saleh Bakri	...	Haled
Khalifa Natour	...	Simon
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shlomi Avraham	...	Papi
Uri Gavriel	...	Avrum
Imad Jabarin	...	Major-general Camal Abdel Azim
Ahuva Keren	...	Lea
François Khell	...	Makram
Hisham Khoury	...	Fauzi
Tarak Kopty	...	Iman
Rinat Matatov	...	Yula
Rubi Moskovitz	...	Itzik
Hilla Sarjon	...	Iris
Eyad Sheety	...	Saleh

Also Known As:

The Band's Visit (International: English title)
Visite de la fanfare, La (France)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

Israel | France | USA

Language:

English | Arabic | Hebrew

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:S | Argentina:Atp | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | South Korea:12 | Germany:o.Al. | Canada:PG | Ireland:12A | France:U | USA:PG-13 | Hong Kong:IIA | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva)

Filming Locations:

Yeruham, Negev Desert, Israel

Company:

July August Productions

Trivia:

The movie was selected to be Israel's Official Submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008), but it was disqualified by AMPAS because more than 50% of film's dialogue was found to be in English, as opposed to Arabic and Hebrew. After an unsuccessful appeal, Israel sent Beaufort (2007) instead.

Movie Connections:

Features Shoter Azulai, Ha- (1970)

Soundtrack:

My Funny Valentine

Really well done

A movie that should be getting lot more press.

Enjoyable and bit quirky to see the kinds of situations people get into, that are much like we may experience anywhere else in the world.

Others have laid out the plot well and nothing more needs to be said about how the story develops.

I found two scene in this movie the kind that one must remember, rather like the many one may recall from Bogart in Casablanca.

The exchange at the phone and the scenes at the skating rink are precious and very well acted.

This is a movie I recommend seeing and then putting into memory to come back and see again and again just for the pure pleasure of a well developed comedy.