Behind the scenes with Israeli ‘Sand Storm’ director Elite Zexer
At packed Times of Israel event, filmmaker says that by making the particular universal, Arabic-language Bedouin women’s story touches global audiences
Sitting on a plush red chair on the Jerusalem Cinemateque stage on Thursday, Elite Zexer, director of Israeli film “Sand Storm,” recounted for a packed audience how, unlike the Oscars in the United States, in Israel there is no “after party” following the Ofirs.
“Sand Storm” took prizes at top festivals including Sundance and the Jerusalem Film Festival. It swept the Ofirs in capturing six awards, and the Arabic-language movie was nominated as Israel’s submission to the Academy Awards for best foreign film for 2016.
On Thursday, Zexer laughed and said that after her film’s success at the Ofirs, she spent a whirlwind night celebrating with friends and family. Around 3:30 am, however, she found herself standing on a Tel Aviv street in her dress and high heals — penniless. Hefting her bulky award statue, she began to walk home.
Being Tel Aviv, Zexer said, people were still very much awake and her 40-minute walk was met with queries about the statue — and riotous applause for her awards. When she finally reached her tiny 40-meter apartment, that Israeli honor joined a Sundance award — on her kitchen counter.
The screening of an English-subtitled “Sand Storm” and following conversation with director Zexer was the latest in an ongoing series of events sponsored by The Times of Israel. Zexer was hosted by ToI’s culture editor Jessica Steinberg.
Previous packed events include an English production of the Incubator Theater’s hip-hop opera, “The City,” and a lively discussion between The Times of Israel editor-in-chief David Horovitz and ex-Mossad director Efraim Halevy. The next Times of Israel Presents event is a March 6 preview screening of “Norman” and discussion with director Joseph Cedar hosted by Ops&Blogs editor Miriam Herschlag.
For most of the sold-out audience at Jerusalem’s Cinemateque Thursday night, the events in Zexer’s “Sand Storm” couldn’t be farther from their own experiences. Yet somehow, with its universal themes of familial honor and generational struggles against tradition, Zexer has managed to make one Bedouin family’s drama universal.
Speaking with The Times of Israel on Friday morning, Zexer said she was moved to see the full house the night before. She said she was happy to have the chance to present the film to a “very different Israeli audience” of English speakers.
Strangely enough, the film didn’t have a true Israeli premiere. In conversation with Steinberg on Thursday, Zexer recounted how “Sand Storm” was meant to debut with a panel of Jewish and Bedouin feminist leaders at the coexistence-promoting Peres Center for Peace. Unfortunately, president Shimon Peres was admitted to the hospital days before the scheduled premiere and it was canceled.
Taking 12 years to complete since its inception, Zexer said it was important to her that it realistically portray the particularity of the conservative Bedouin society while still playing on universal themes. For five years she visited villages and refined her script. She would spend a week in a village only to go home to Tel Aviv and erase her previous draft; rinse and repeat.
As part of her quest for authenticity, the actors — Israeli Arab women and a mix of Bedouin and Arab men — refined their accents to the Bedouin Arabic dialect. Their hard work is reflected in the film’s success among the Bedouin population and a three-month run in Beersheba saw two theaters packed primarily by local Bedouin, leading another cinema to be added in nearby Omer.
Since then the film has been internationally well-received, and Zexer has realized her goal of each audience member being able to “find himself” and say that the mother in “Sand Storm” is “just like my mother; the daughter is just like the girl next door.” In India, she added, she was met with a standing ovation — of men only.
On Friday, a day after the Jerusalem screening, she told The Times of Israel that the Jerusalem audience was not to be outdone by Tel Aviv.
“I spoke in the screening about how people clapped all the way home after the Ofir ceremony” in Tel Aviv. “And I walked outside [the Cinemateque in Jerusalem after the screening on Thursday night] and people clapped as I walked all the way to my car, to show me that people in Jerusalem are just as nice,” said Zexer.
—
Booking Information for Norman:
Monday, March 6; Exclusive Times of Israel preview
NORMAN starring Richard Gere
Director Joseph Cedar talks to Miriam Herschlag
7:45 p.m., Cinema City, Jerusalem BOOK HERE
To join our priority booking list and for advance news of all future events, send an email with the word “Subscribe” to: events@timesofisrael.com
