Israeli Academy Award winners Ronit Elkabetz and Sasson Gabai in The Band’s Visit

Jews hating on other jews is a dispicable crime. Even when its when Hollywood jews hating on thier Israeli counterparts. Brothers from other mothers as some would say. As Nikki Finke reported yesterday on her blog it seems that Eran Kolirin’s film that grabbed awards at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (the film won Un Certain Regard at Cannes as well as the Audience Award at the Sarajevo Film Festival) as well as eight Israeli Oscars by the Israeli Academy of film is disqualified from contention as a “Foreign Language Film” by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences due to the fact that the film utilizes more than 50% English dialogue.

Israel’s film industry has consistently sufferred in trying to secure a nomination for their films by Academy voters. Recent years have seen films such as Dror Shaul’s Sweet Mud, Nir Bergman’s Broken Wings, Joseph Cedar’s Ha-Hesder and Dover Koshashvili’s Late Marriage all snubbed from getting a nomination in the coveted and highly competitive Foriegn Language category.

It was thought that The Band’s Visit had all of the criteria that the Foreign Language committee traditionally looks for in that it is a film that incorporates musical elements (Everybody Famous!, The Chorus and Joyeux Noel are all recent nominees that ran along similar lines) as well as a plot-line that addresses questions of peace and reconcilliation with Arabs.

Israel has been nominated six times for a Foreign Language Oscar but has never won. The last nomination was in 1984 for Beyond the Law (Me’Ahorei Hasoragim) by Uri Barbash and Rudy Cohen. The only countries nominated more times than Israel to have never won in this category are Mexico and Poland with seven nominations a piece.

The Israeli film Beaufort (winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival) by two-time Israeli Academy Award winner Joseph Cedar will be the replacement film entered into the running in this category. The Israeli Film Academy is also seeking legal advice as to whether they should pursue an appeal.

The most unfortunate thing about The Band’s Visit being disqualified is that its nomination would have in many ways vindicated the Academy for nominating Palestinian propoganda film Paradise Now in last year’s Awards. (The Oscar was won however by Germany for The Lives of Others)

In addition to that matter there is the fact that although considered by Abu Dhabi’s inaugural Middle East International Film Fest (scheduled to run next week from Oct. 14-19) an Egyptian Actors Union threatened to boycott the festival if The Band’s Visit was included.

Egyptian Actors Union head was quoted in Variety as saying:

“It’s because it’s Israeli. We’re against normalization and if they had put the film in, we would have withdrawn all our support.”

Additionally, the Cairo International Film Festival has also excluded the film from its roster despite The Band Visit’s Eran Kolirin’s deep love for Egyptian cinema and what seems to be a pro-peaceful stance that the film takes.

The Band’s Visit producer Ehud Bleiberg has responded with:

“The most important thing for us with the release of this film is that Arab audiences get to watch it and judge it with their own eyes. In the end I don’t think people will be able to stop this film being seen. We will not stop until we’ve done everything possible.”

Despite the controversy Sony will release the film in Limited Release in the United States in February, 2008

2007 Israeli Academy Awards won by The Band’s Visit

Best Supporting Actor
Saleh Bakri

Tags: AMPAS, The Band’s Visit, Israel, Oscars, Joseph Cedar, Sasson Gabai

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