Ushpizin

Shuli Rand, a well known Israeli actor who played the lead in Asi Dayan’s Life According to Agfa (1993), disappeared from the stage when he found religion. Last year he made a striking comeback as scriptwriter of and protagonist in a feature about the ultra-orthodox community that was a great hit with both Israeli audiences and critics alike – even non-religious ones. The film shows a week in the life of Moshe and his wife Mali, who converted a couple of years ago and live in an ultra-orthodox district of Jerusalem. On the eve of the Sukkot feast (when people remember the exodus from Egypt through the Sinai Desert by staying in home-made huts and receiving guests there) they hardly have enough money to live up to their religious obligations. When by chance they happen to receive a large sum of money and two guests – ‘ushpizin’ is Aramean for guests – turn up in their hut, their luck seems to take a turn for the better. But the two visitors, old acquaintances from Moshe’s shady past, turn out to have just escaped from jail and are not planning to adapt to Moshe’s new way of life. Gidi Dar, not religious himself, manages to bridge the gap between the non-religious and the very pious – for 90 minutes at least – by authentically showing what happens in a religious world that is closed to outsiders. The film was shot on location with the active support of Rand’s rabbi and the orthodox local inhabitants. (SdH)