Cinema Sabaya

With the generous support of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver and Israel@75 Celebrations, Or Shalom is proud to partner with the Vancouver Jewish Film Festival to screen the 2022 official Israeli nominee for the Academy Award for Best International Film at the 95th Academy Awards, Cinema Sabaya.

Cinema Sabaya follows a group of Arab and Jewish women who attend a video workshop at a small town community center run by Rona, a young filmmaker from Tel Aviv, who teaches them to document their lives. As each student shares footage from her home life with the others, their beliefs and preconceptions are challenged and barriers are broken down. The group comes together as mothers, daughters, wives, and women living in a world designed to keep them apart, forming an empowering and lasting bond as they learn more about each other... and themselves. Inspired by writer/director Orit Fouks Rotem's own experiences as a teacher, Cinema Sabaya presents a deft and heartfelt portrait of art's capacity to unite disparate communities, moving effortlessly between the gravity of their conversations and the genuine joy generated by this unlikely group of friends.