The Band's Visit

Comedy, Israel/USA/France, 2007, 87 min, Arabic and Hebrew with German subtitles

A film “full of wisdom and humor, but also of absolute understatement“ (Hollywood Reporter). The starting point is absurd: a police band from the Egyptian city of Alexandria, dressed in their blue parade uniforms, ends up stranded in the middle of Israel, in a small town in the Negev desert. What ensues are a number of encounters between people from two countries whose relations have been cool for some time: a charming bistro manageress manages to break the ice with the prim Egyptian conductor. The dashing trumpeter takes care of an Israeli lad who cannot muster the courage to approach the girl he fancies. And the other band members also do their best to get on with the natives ... . Israeli director Eran Kolirin won the Prix Coup de Coeur at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007 for his “tender and careful observations“.