''The Band's Visit'' ( he, ביקור התזמורת, Bikur Ha-Tizmoret) is a 2007

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film, directed and written by Eran Kolirin, and starring

Saleh Bakri Saleh Bakri ( ar, صالح بكري, he, סאלח בכרי; born 1977) is an Israeli-born Palestinian film and theater actor. He began his career in the theater. He is the son of actor and film director Mohammad Bakri, brother of actors Ziad an ...

Ronit Elkabetz Ronit Elkabetz ( he, רונית אלקבץ; 27 November 1964 – 19 April 2016) was an Israeli actress, screenwriter and film director. She worked in both Israeli and French cinema. She won three Ophir Awards and received a total of seven nomin ...

, Sasson Gabai and

Uri Gavriel Uri Gavriel ( he, אורי גבריאל) is an Israeli theater, film and television actor. Winner of the Ophir Award and Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2005 as Best Actor in film '' What a Wonderful Place''. In 2018, he appeared as ...

. It is an international co-production between Israel, France and the United States. The film received acclaim from critics and audiences. It won eight

Ophir Prize The Ophir Awards ( he, פרס אופיר), colloquially known as the Israeli Oscars or the Israeli Academy Awards, are film awards for excellence in the Israeli film industry awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. The award, named ...

s awarded by the Israeli Film Academy. It was Israel's original Foreign Language Film submission for the 80th Academy Awards, but was rejected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences because it contained over 50% English dialogue. Thus, Israel sent ''

Beaufort Beaufort may refer to: People and titles * Beaufort (surname) * House of Beaufort, English nobility * Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England * Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility Places Polar regions ...

'' instead; ''Beaufort'' was eventually included in the five final nominees.

Synopsis

The eight men of the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra arrive in Israel from Egypt. They have been booked by an Arab cultural center in

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva ( he, פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה, , ), also known as ''Em HaMoshavot'' (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of ...

, but through a miscommunication (Arabic has no "p" sound, and regularly replaces it with "b"), the band takes a bus to ''Beit Hatikva'', a fictional town in the middle of the

Negev Desert The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...

. The Egyptians encounter a few Israeli townspeople, who respond with curiosity about the band, are variously friendly and wary, and provide them with shelter, food, music and companionship during their visit. There is no transportation out of the town that day, and there are no hotels for them to spend the night in. The band members dine at a small restaurant where the owner, Dina (

) invites them to stay the night at her apartment, at her friends' apartment, and in the restaurant. No one quite falls in love, but a sense of unspoken longing and loneliness is expressed.

Cast

as Khaled *

as Dina * Sasson Gabai as Lieutenant-colonel Tawfiq Zacharya *

as Avrum *

Khalifa Natour Khalifa Natour ( ar, خليفة ناطور) is an Israeli Arab actor. Born in Qalansawe in 1965-1966, Natour attended Beit Zvi School for the Performing Arts where he played Othello and Timon of Athens (among other roles) in student productions. H ...

as Simon * Rubi Moskovitz as Itzik * Imad Jabarin as Major-general Camal Abdel Azim * Hilla Sarjon as Iris * Shlomi Avraham as Papi *

Tarak Kopty Tarak may refer to: People * Tarak Ben Ammar (born 1949), Tunisian film producer * Tarak Chandra Das (1898–1964), Calcutta University anthropologist * Tarak Nath Das (1884–1958), anti-British Bengali Indian revolutionary and internationalis ...

as Iman *

Rinat Matatov Rinat Matatov ( he, רינת מטטוב; born 6 August 1981) is an Israeli actress. Winner of the Theatre Academy Award. Matatov was born in Kokand, Uzbekistan, to a father who worked as an engineer and a mother who worked as a nurse. In 1990 ...

as Yula * Tomer Yosef as Ars * Ahuva Keren as Lea * François Khell as Makram * Hisham Khoury as Fauzi

Release

Critical reception

''The Band's Visit'' received critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 98% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 116 reviews with an average of 7.9/10. The site's consensus states: "''The Band's Visit'' is both a clever, subtle, slice-of-life comedy, and poignant cross-cultural exploration." It also received a Golden Tomato for Best Foreign Film of 2008. On Metacritic, it has an 80 out of 100 rating, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Ray Bennett of '' The Hollywood Reporter'' named the film the second best of 2007, V.A. Musetto of the '' New York Post'' named it the 8th best film of 2007, and both Ella Taylor of ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

'' and Associated Press film critic David Germain named it the 9th best film of 2007.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the '' Chicago Sun-Times'' selected it as one of the 20 best films of 2008. According to Ebert, "''The Band’s Visit'' has not provided any of the narrative payoffs we might have expected, but has provided something more valuable: An interlude involving two 'enemies,' Arabs and Israelis, that shows them both as only ordinary people with ordinary hopes, lives, and disappointments. It has also shown us two souls with rare beauty." Gabai's characterization and playing of Tawfiq Zacharya was hailed by critics, who described him as "an actor of real skill, and an artist capable of the deepest understanding of the human condition." During the

Israeli Film Academy Awards The Ophir Awards ( he, פרס אופיר), colloquially known as the Israeli Oscars or the Israeli Academy Awards, are film awards for excellence in the Israeli film industry awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. The award, named ...

in September 2007, Bakri, "the band's handsome young trumpet player" thanked his parents and said, "I want to thank my father, who taught me to love mankind, and my mother, who taught me to bear the burden of life in this country and stand strong," he said. For her role, critics described Elkabetz as "wonderful ... a kind-hearted lonely heart refusing to wilt in her desert town". During the Israeli Film Academy Awards Ceremony in September 2007, Elkabetz brought a message of reconciliation and hope, and after taking a bow before the film's director, she said to him, "You reminded us of a thing or two that we have already managed to forget. You showed us what would happen if we would stand before each other, Jews and Arabs and look each other in the eye." The skating rink scene is considered a highlight of the film: "The band's handsome young trumpet player, Khaled, who idolizes jazz icon

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

, encounters the resident Papi ( Shlomi Avraham, ), an Israeli nebbish and accompanies him on a blind date at a roller-skating rink. When the local boy proves too awkward to make any advances to his date, the more experienced Egyptian guides him along, wordlessly, but with eloquent gestures."

Awards and nominations

;Wins *Best Film – Ophir Award *Best Director – Ophir Award *Best Actor – Ophir Award *Best Actress – Ophir Award *Best Supporting Actor – Ophir Award *Best Music – Ophir Award *Best Screenplay – Ophir Award *Best Costumes – Ophir Award *Un Certain Regard – Jury Coup de Coeur – Cannes Film Festival 2007 *UNESCO Award – Outstanding Contribution to the Promotion and Preservation of Cultural Diversity Through Film at the 2007 Asia Pacific Screen Awards. *Special Mention – Flanders International Film Festival *Scythian Deer – Molodist International Film Festival *Feature Film Award – Montreal World Film Festival *Audience Award – Sarajevo Film Festival *Audience Award – Warsaw International Film Festival *Grand Prix – Warsaw International Film Festival *Golden Eye – Zurich Film Festival *New Talent Award – Zurich Film Festival *Best Actor – European Film Awards *Best Un-released Film (in Australia) –

Australian Film Critics Association The Australian Film Critics Association (AFCA), formerly Melbourne Film Critics’ Forum, is an Australian professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional socie ...

Film Awards *Grand Prize – Lino Brocka Award – Cinemanila International Film Festival ;Nominations *Best Art Direction – Award of the Israeli Film Academy *Best Cinematography – Award of the Israeli Film Academy *Best Editing – Award of the Israeli Film Academy *Best Sound – Award of the Israeli Film Academy *Best Supporting Actress – Award of the Israeli Film Academy *Best Screenplay – European Film Awards *Best Performance by an Actor (Sasson Gabai) – Asia Pacific Screen Awards *Grand Prix – Flanders International Film Festival

Language disqualification

Under the rules of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, more than half the dialogue in a foreign film entry must be in the originating country's own language to qualify for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

. However, ''The Band's Visit'', whose Egyptian and Israeli characters communicate mainly in broken English, didn't meet the requirement and was disqualified by the Oscar committee. Even so,

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...

, the film's distributor, entered it in the general Oscar categories of best picture, director, screenplay, actor and actress – none of which came through for the film. "Nobody in Israel thought about the language problem," said Kolirin, who spent four years making the film. When he heard about the adverse American decision, "I was pissed off for a few days, but I've gotten over it," he said during a visit to Los Angeles.

Stage adaptation

The film has been adapted into a stage musical of the same name. The musical's book is written by Itamar Moses with music and lyrics by David Yazbek. It opened at the

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

Linda Gross Theater, produced by the Atlantic Theatre Company, on 11 November 2016, closing on 8 January 2017. Directed by David Cromer, with choreography by Patrick McCollum, the cast stars Tony Shalhoub, John Cariani and Katrina Lenk. Later during the Broadway run as well of the United States National Tour, Sasson Gabai would reprise his role as Tewfiq in the stage production. The musical won the 2017 Drama Critics' Circle Awards for Best Musical, the 2017 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding New Musical, and the

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newspa ...

for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical. The production transferred to Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, with previews beginning on 7 October 2017 and full opening on 9 November. The musical was the biggest winner at the 72nd Annual Tony Awards, which were presented 10 June at Radio City Music Hall, winning ten awards, including Best Musical. It also won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album at the

2019 Grammy Awards The 61st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 10, 2019, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys hosted. During her opening monologue, Keys brought out Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and fo ...

. Gabai reprised his role as Tawfiq for the Broadway production that began on 26 June 2018.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bands Visit, The 2007 films American comedy-drama films 2000s English-language films English-language French films English-language Israeli films 2000s Arabic-language films Israeli multilingual films French multilingual films 2007 comedy-drama films Best Picture International Eurasia Award winners European Film Awards winners (films) Films set in Israel Interfaith romance films 2000s Hebrew-language films Israeli comedy-drama films 2007 directorial debut films Films directed by Eran Kolirin French comedy-drama films 2000s American films 2000s French films