Cinema Sabaya

The old classroom concept of show-and-tell becomes a richer, deeper exercise for a workshop of Arab and Jewish women in Israeli filmmaker Orit Fouks Rotem’s heartfelt feature debut “Cinema Sabaya.”

Cinema Sabaya, a quietly affecting little film about unexpected connections and unseen sorrows, shimmers with a bright optimism about how people might overlook one another’s differences if only they took a little time to learn about each other.

The film resides in the porous boundary between fiction and reality... enriched by naturalistic flair that eschews didacticism.

The film is full of life, love, humor and authenticity without being didactic. At the same time, it cleverly questions the ethics and responsibility of filmmaking.

Cinema Sabaya is as much a film about filmmaking as it is about national and religious identities.

It ought to be fun, a film about a group of Israeli and Arab women from different walks of life brought together to take part in a video production workshop. So how come the results feel like eating your veggies?

Cinema Sabaya is a parable about our common humanity and for people and communities who live in conflict.

This is a heartwarming film that should be watched by everyone.

Rotem may have manipulated the vision of everyday life but she has made an absorbing film that has you seeking answers to questions she didn’t ask.

The purpose isn't therefore to magically solve centuries of persecution. It's to remind us that no one is perfect. No one is unequivocally correct. And no one is truly alone.