Bikur Ha-Tizmoret (2007)

Director:

Eran Kolirin

Writer:

Eran Kolirin (writer)

Release Date:

13 September 2007 (Israel)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Music

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:

Israel | Orchestra | Lost | Bus | Musical Instrument

Awards:

41 wins & 9 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
Tomer Yosef	...	Ars

Also Known As:

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

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:

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

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) (TV), but it was disqualified by AMPAS because more than 50% of the film's dialogue was found to be in English, as opposed to Arabic and Hebrew. After an unsuccessful appeal, Israel sent Beaufort (2007) instead.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Tewfiq tells Khaled they have a long day tomorrow in Dina's apartment, Tewfiq is shown putting his hand on Khaled's shoulder in the shot from behind Khaled, but in the shot from the front, Tewfiq is seen holding Khaled's upper arm.

Movie Connections:

Features Ha-Shoter Azulai (1970)

Soundtrack:

My Funny Valentine

A touching film about what makes us similar as humans

I liked this movie. As a viewer, I was subjected to a wide range of emotions during this film: joy, frustration, embarrassment, delight and so on.

One must understand that Israel and Egypt had been long time enemies (until the peace agreement in 1979) and that Israeli Jews and Arabs have very different views on so many matters. Within this context the humanity of the film really shines. People of such different backgrounds are basically the same; Same hopes and aspirations, same fears and frustrations etc. The same things make all of us tick.

This film is also about strangers and others. And how we can help one another. The scene with Haled and the Israeli boy and girl in the skating rink is, my opinion, classic.

enjoy