My Mexican Shivah (2007)
"Morirse está en Hebreo" (original title)

After Moishe's death, family and friends sit Shiva in Mexico City. During seven days, secrets will be disclosed.

Director:

Alejandro Springall

Writers:

Jorge Goldenberg (screenplay), Alejandro Springall (story),

Stars:

Blanca Guerra, Martha Roth, Sergio Kleiner

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Blanca Guerra	...	Julia Palafox
Martha Roth	...	Rosita
Sergio Kleiner	...	Moishe
Guillermo Murray	...	Dr. Berman
Martin LaSalle	...	Isaac Fischer
Raquel Pankowsky	...	Esther
David Ostrosky	...	Ricardo
Emilio Savinni	...	Nicolás
Sharon Zundel	...	Galia
Gustavo Sánchez Parra	...	Sargento Antúnez
Margot Wagner	...	Eva Wolf
Lenny Zundel	...	Jevreman
Jacqueline Voltaire	...	Martha
Ricardo Kleinbaum	...	Ari
Max Kerlow	...	Rubinstein

Storyline

MORIRSE ESTA EN HEBREO (MY MEXICAN SHIVAH) is about how the death of a man results in the celebration of his life. According to Jewish belief, from the moment a Jew is born, he or she is accompanied by two angels: an angel of light and an angel of darkness. With the passing Moishe (75), his family and friends gather in Mexico City to sit shivah, the 7-day Jewish mourning ritual. The spirit angels, Aleph and Bet, divine accountants, only visible to the camera, watch over the family and calculate which angel will accompany Moishe's soul to the afterlife. The odds are against Moishe from the beginning. Family dysfunction aside, Moishe's friends are all attending for their own motives. And to make matters worse, while performing his duties, a Chevreman, who is a member of the Sacred Funeral Society, is milking the family for all they're worth: charging for kosher food, slippers and various other shivah goods. Emotionally unstable and obsessed with staying young, Moishe's daughter Esther, ...

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Plot Keywords:

death | jewish | mexico | shiva | sitting shiva | 

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Taglines:

Which angels will accompany your soul in its journey to the Almighty?

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

Mexico USA

Language:

Hebrew Spanish Yiddish

Release Date:

26 October 2007 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

My Mexican Shivah

Filming Locations:

Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$7,961 (USA) (29 August 2008)

Gross:

$13,042 (USA) (5 September 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Goliat Films, Elevation Filmworks, Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía (IMCINE)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

Interesante

A pretty decent little film. The movie examines the relationships of the members of a family in Mexico City that have gathered after the death of the patriarch of the family. The film doesn't focus as much on the deceased as on the family members. The characters and subplots were kept my attention as a whole, particularly the character of the grandson that had returned from Israel. The most interesting part of the film was learning about the customs and rituals of the Jewish faith when someone passes away. Overall a well paced film considering it mainly took place in a couple rooms in a house and unique in that I hadn't seen a Mexican film about the Jewish faith. Well done.