Sirak M. Sabahat

Sirak M. Sabahat ( _he. סירק מ. סבהאט; born December 5, 1981) is an Israeli actor. He is known for his role in the film "Va, vis et deviens".

Biography

Early life

PRINCE SIRAK SABAHAT was born in the small rural village of Walita, in Southern Ethiopia, the first-born of four brothers. He is considered a prince in the Ethiopian community. He is a Chabashi Ethiopian Jew. In 1991, he and his family left Awassa (south of Ethiopia) for Israel. They journeyed thousands of kilometers across the desert to Addis Ababa, and lost many friends and relatives along the way. From Addis Ababa, he was sent with his family to Israel during an operation called "Operation Solomon" in which 15,000 Ethiopian Jews were brought to Israel in 3 days.

Career

Prince Sirak received his High School diploma in 1999, which was followed by military service. He then studied acting and filmmaking in the University of Haifa, where he became the head of the Ethiopian Students Association. In 2004, Prince Sirak was selected as the ‘best actor’ on an Israeli reality television program. During these years he began writing plays about his experiences of coming to Israel from Ethiopia.

These stories were to become the base material for his collaboration with French film director, Radu Mihaileanu, on his film ‘Live and Become.’(2005) Prince Sirak served as the liaison between Mr. Mihaelanu and the Ethiopian actors, and as such had a bit of hand in directing the Ethiopian portions of the film. His starring performance in the film earned him a nomination for the Israeli Academy Award. He was the first man of color in Israel to receive this honor. Live and Become won the Audience Award, European Cinema Award and Ecumenical Award at the 2005 Berlin Film Festival, the Golden Swan (Best Film) and Best Screenplay at the 2005 Copenhagen International Film Festival, and over 700,000 festival admissions in France alone. Prince Sirak won an award for ‘Most Promising Talent’ at the 2005 Valenciennes Film Festival.

He has written for and played many roles on stage and television, and he was one of the first men of color to host a children’s television program in Israel. He is currently working on his one man show titled, “From the Bible To the Subway.”. He is an uncompromising artist constantly searching, and questioning this world and his place in it.

In 2004, Sabahat participated in a reality show on Israeli TV, and was chosen as best actor in the "project". He eventually starred in Mihaileanu's film "Va, vis, et deviens" (2005), for which he was nominated for an Israeli Academy Award. He has also acted in stage productions. Sabahat is currently a presenter for a children's show on Israel's Channel 1.

Filmography

Actor

*"Va, vis et deviens" (2005) .... Schlomo (adult)
*... aka Live and Become (USA, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and UK)
*... aka Go, See, and Become (International: English title)
*... aka Geh und Lebe (Germany)
*... aka Vai e vivrai (Italy: dubbed version)

elf

*"Comme au cinéma" .... TV Episode dated 22 March 2005 .... Himself
*... aka Comme au cinéma: l'émission (France: long new title)
*... aka Comme au cinéma: le magazine (France: long new title)

Quotes

"When I saw white people, I was so in shock because no one told me there was white Jews."

[http://theeveningclass.blogspot.com/2006/08/2006-sfjffthe-evening-class-interview.html]

“In Ethiopia we were called Jews. In Israel we were called Ethiopians.”

[ [http://www.thejewishadvocate.com/this_weeks_issue/campus/?content_id=1936 The Jewish Advocate | This Weeks Issue | Campus ] ]

"We thought they Might have a skin disease [seeing white Jews for the first time] ".

[http://www.ethiotalkshow.com/Videos.aspx?m=3&y=2007, Interview with Ethiopian Jew actor Sirak Sabahat] .

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1600614/maindetails Sirak M. Sabahat] at the IMDB
* [http://theeveningclass.blogspot.com/2006/08/2006-sfjffthe-evening-class-interview.html interview]
* [http://www.exodus-films.com] at Exodus Films

[Category:Ethiopian Jews]