Interview: The Director of Israel's Oscar Submission ‘Cinema Sabaya’

By Abe Friedtanzer

 

The winner of Israel’s Oscars, the Ophir Awards, automatically goes on to become the country’s Oscar submission for Best International Feature. This year, that film is Cinema Sabaya, which has an encore screening at the Other Israel Film Festival in New York City this Sunday after showing at last year’s festival. It’s also the feature directorial debut of Orit Fouks Rotem, who was kind enough to speak with me about her approach to this engaging movie about making movies...

The star of Cinema Sabaya is three-time Ophir winner Dana Ivgy (Zero Motivation), and this is only her second film to be selected as Israel's Oscar entry, following 2002’s Broken Wings. Ivgy is surrounded by a group of non-actors playing a mix Jewish and Arab women who work in municipal departments taking a video production class. It’s an intimate film full of rich performances, particularly from Joanna Said, who won the Ophir for Best Supporting Actress. Since I spoke with Rotem, Cinema Sabaya has been acquired by Kino Lorber for a theatrical, digital, and home video release early in 2023. 

A quick refresher of Israel’s Oscar history: the country has earned ten nominations, including two instances of three consecutive bids. Footnote was the most recent nominee in 2011, and Foxtrot made the shortlist in 2017. Enjoy the conversation about this year’s Oscar hopeful with Rotem below:

Cinema Sabaya is screening at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan on Sunday, November 6th. Get tickets and learn more about the Other Israel Film Festival here.