GOD’S SANDBOX |
FEATURE FILM
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Production Year
2002
Screening Time
86 min
Producer
Yoav Halevy
Director
Doron Eran
Screenplay
Yoav Halevy
Hanita Halevy
Director of Photography
Claudio Steinberg
Editing
Simon Spector
Original Music
Arik Rudich
Release Date
2013
Lead Cast
Meital Duhan, Juliano Merr , Razia Israeli, , Orly Perel, Sami Samir, Amos Lavi., Amnon Fischer, Lutuf Noyser
Supported by
Israel Film Fund, Channel 1 – Israel
Synopsis
Liz, a successful author arrives at a beach in the magical Sinai Desert in search of her daughter Rachel who ran away. Liz decides to stay at the beach despite her daughter’s objections and meets with a Bedouin storyteller. It is here that she learns of the unusual love story of Leila – a Western tourist – and Najim, the son of a Bedouin Sheik.This extraordinary love story, that took place many years before on the same exotic beach, began to fall apart after the expulsion of Leila and Najim from his tribe. While wandering alone in the desert, Leila is exposed to a traumatic female circumcision ceremony that horrifies her and shatters the love story. Liz, captivated by the love story, undergoes a journey of psychological torment, during which her daughter Rachel discovers surprising facts about her mother’s life.Trailer
Reviews
Los Angeles Times
In “God’s Sandbox,” a provocative film that gathers strength as it goes along, it’s good with an intriguing premise and compelling performances”
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Forward Magazine
“Moments of genuine power here. Claudio Steinberg’s photography is lovely to look at, lending the film’s desert landscapes a grandeur that renders it a down-home version of “Lawrence of Arabia.”
Saul Austerlitz
Forward Magazine
Amy Kronish
The story is revealed in erotic flashbacks set awash in a sea of bright colors and beautiful panoramas. The film’s theme is timely and a sad social commentary about the state of women in a culture that demands a barbaric pre-matrimony ritual that still occurs all too frequently in the modern world. Highlighted by nuanced acting this romantic, sexy thriller works well but contains mature subject matter and nudity”
Idan Ivri
Jewish Journal
SF Chronicle
“Bureau 06 by Yoav Halevy examines the Eichmann Trial in an interesting and less familiar perspective ”
G. Allen Johnson
SF Chronicle
Film Festivals
- Manchester Film Festival, USA, 2002, Premier
- Karlovy – Vary Int. Film Festival, Czech republic, 2002, European Premier
- Jerusalem Int. Film Festival, Israel, 2002.
- Kolkata Int. Film Festival, India, 2002 (Doron Eran Retrospective)
- Dubrovnik Int, Film Festival, Croatia (2003)
- Israel Film Festival, USA (2003)
- Blue Sky International Film Festival, Las Vegas, USA, 2003
- San Diego Jewish Film Festival, USA, 2004
- Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, USA, 2004
- 37th Annual WorldFest-Houston, USA, 2004 (Special Jury Award)
Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay
at the Manchester Film Festival, 2002 (Dramatic competition)
Special Jury Award
37th Annual WorldFest-Houston, USA, 2004
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