2020-04-29 | JIMENA in the Press

Sephardic Streaming Movies for Staying Home

A compilation as of April 28, 2020. Please email info@jimena.org to suggest titles and links to additional streaming films.

NETFLIX

  • The Angel:  As his country prepares for war, top Egyptian official Ashraf Marwan makes contact with Israel and wades into a shadowy game of high-stakes espionage.
  • Huge in France: Gad Elmaleh is a famous comedian — in France. But he faces an emotional crossroads and decides to leave his fame — and the associated celebrity perks — behind to move to Los Angeles. There, he hopes to reconnect with his estranged, comedy-hating teenage son.
  • Joseph King of Dreams: A boy’s ability to see the future results in familial discord, taking him away to Egypt, where he helps the pharaoh protect the kingdom from disaster.
  • The Spy: This drama tells the astonishing true story of Israel’s most prominent spy, Eli Cohen, who infiltrated the Syrian government in the 1960s.
  • When Heroes Fly: This dramatic thriller centers on four friends — Israeli military veterans — who reunite for a final, deeply personal rescue mission 11 years after having a bitter falling out. They travel to the Colombian jungle in search of Yaeli — the former lover of one man and sister of another — who they had presumed was dead. 

Amazon Prime

  • The Baker and the Beauty: An accidental meeting marks the beginning of a surprising love story in this refreshingly modern romantic comedy. Amos, a 28-year-old baker, still lives with his parents and works in the family business. Noa is the most famous woman in the country and the beautiful daughter of a hotel magnate.
  • The Band’s Visit: The eight Egyptian musicians who comprise the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra arrive by mistake in a small town in Israel’s Negev Desert. Their booking set for a different city, and with no transportation out of the town or any hotels to stay at, the band settles at a restaurant owned by Dina (Ronit Elkabetz), who offers them lodging. 
  • Before the Revolution: A documentary thriller describing the last days of the Israeli community in Tehran, on the eve of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
  • Blue Like Me: Indian-American artist Siona Benjamin visits a small Jewish community in Mumbai.
  • Cairo Drive: Filmmaker Sherief Elkatsha rides through congested streets alongside a diverse cast of characters, capturing the unspoken codes of conduct, frustrations, humour, fatalism, and life-or-death decisions of driving in a city with no rules.
  • Every Time We Say Goodbye: 1986 American drama film starring Tom Hanks and Cristina Marsillach. Hanks plays a gentile American in the Royal Air Force, stationed in mandatory Jerusalem, who falls in love with a girl from a Sephardic Jewish family.
  • In Search of Israeli Cuisine: The Israel-born, award-winning chef of Zahav, Michael Solomonov, offers up a tour of 70 plus diverse cultures of Israel through food.
  • Is That You: Ronnie, a 60-year-old projectionist from Israel, is fired from his job and travels to the United States to find Rachel, the love of his life from his youth.
  • The Impossible Spy: In 1959, Ellie Cohen (John Shea), an unassuming Israeli accountant, is recruited by the spy agency Mossad to gather intelligence on the Syrian government. Disguising himself as a Muslim businessman, Cohen ingratiates himself with the top brass of Syria’s Ba’ath Party and gains the trust of prominent party leader Gen. Gamal Haled (Rami Danon).
  • Letters from Baghdad: The story of Gertrude Bell, sometimes referred to as the female Lawrence of Arabia, who helped shape Iraq’s destiny following WW1.
  • My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes: Tells the story of the rescue of thousands of Italian Jews during World War II by ordinary and prominent Italians, including the champion cyclist Gino Bartali.
  • The Nightingale from Cairo: Umm Kulthum: 40 years ago, Umm Kulthum’s death was mourned all around the world. Through the power of her song, her unique voice that captured the crowds, and an exceptional repertoire, she performed the unheard-of feat of sweeping away the barriers between peoples – which, to this day, no politician has ever successfully done.
  • The Pirate Captain Toledano: A pirate captain interrogates a stowaway refugee from the Spanish Inquisition, and must decide whether to make him a pirate or make him walk the plank.
  • The Rabbi’s Cat: Animated feature set in Algeria in the 1920s, a rabbi’s cat who learns how to speak after swallowing the family parrot expresses his desire to convert to Judaism.
  • Rambam: The Story of Maimonides
  • Sefarad: A sweeping historical epic about hope, faith and humanity. In 19th century Portugal, where Judaism has been prohibited for centuries, a military officer converted to the faith embarks on a selfless mission to bring the Jewish community back to life.
  • Septembers of Shiraz: After creating a prosperous life in Iran, a Jewish family may be forced to abandon everything as a revolution looms on the horizon.
  • The Wedding Song: The Nazi occupation of Tunisia strains the bonds of friendship between a Muslim woman and a Sephardic Jew who are both preparing for their marriages.
  • Women’s Balcony: When a charismatic rabbi enters their lives, some women in Jerusalem attempt to unite their neighborhood and preserve their traditions.