Aliyah | |
---|---|
Directed by | Elie Wajeman |
Written by | Gaëlle Macé Elie Wajeman |
Produced by | Lola Gans |
Starring | Adele Haenel, Cédric Kahn |
Cinematography | David Chizallet |
Distributed by | Rézo Films (France), Film Movement (USA)[1] |
Release date |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | France |
Languages | French, Hebrew |
Budget | $1.8 million[2] |
Box office | $275.000[3] |
Aliyah (French: Alyah) is a 2012 French drama film directed by Elie Wajeman .[4][5]
Alex, a 27-year-old Jewish drug dealer who lives in Paris, plans to do his Aliyah and move to Israel for the chance of a better life.[4][5][6] His brother, Isaac, keeps pestering him for money.[4][5] During the course of a Shabbat dinner at their aunt's house, we learn they lack parental support.[4] Alex's desire to move to Israel is not so much grown out of Zionism, but because nothing holds him back in France, in spite of his recent encounter with a gentile girl, Jeanne.[4][5][6] The final scene highlights Israel's multicultural culture.[4]
The film was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.[7][8] It was also shown at the 2012 Haifa International Film Festival and the Cabourg Film Festival.[9][10]
Variety reviewed the film favorably, suggesting the cast was "solid." and that the film deserve a "wider audience" than "Francophone arthouses and Jewish fests".[4] For Les Echos, it is "the best French film in a long time", as it shows many social classes in Paris, and admits the fact that Paris, as pretty as it is, has nothing left to offer.[5]