The Band's Visit

Infobox Film
name = The Band's Visit


image_size =
caption =
director = Eran Kolirin
producer = Ehud Bleiberg Koby Gal-Raday Guy Jacoel Eylon Ratzkovsky Yossi Uzrad
writer = Eran Kolirin
narrator =
starring = Saleh Bakri
Ronit Elkabetz
Sasson Gabai
Uri Gavriel
Imad Jabarin
Ahuva Keren
music = Habib Shadah
cinematography = Shai Goldman
editing = Arik Leibovitch
distributor =
released = flagicon|France 19 May, 2007 (Cannes)
flagicon|Israel 13 September, 2007
flagicon|USA 18 November, 2007 (St. Louis International Film Festival)
flagicon|Canada 9 September, 2007 (Toronto Film Festival)
runtime = 87 min.
country = Israel/France/USA
language = Arabic, English, Hebrew
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website = http://www.thebandsvisit.com/
amg_id =
imdb_id = 1032856

"The Band's Visit" (Hebrew : "Bikur Ha-Tizmoret", ביקור התזמורת) is a 2007 Israeli film directed by Eran Kolirin.

"The Band's Visit" was Israel's original Foreign Language Film submission for the 80th Academy Awards, but was rejected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences because it contained over 50% English dialogue. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/930323.html Israeli film wins country's first two European Academy Awards - Haaretz - Israel News ] ] Thus, Israel sent "Beaufort" instead; "Beaufort" was finally included in the five final nominees.

Plot

The Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra, consisting of eight men, arrive in Israel from Egypt. They have been booked by an Arab cultural center in Petah Tiqva, but through a miscommunication, the band takes a bus to Bet Hatikva, a fictional town in the middle of the Negev Desert. There is no transportation out of the city that day, and there are no hotels for them to spend the night in. The band members dine at a small restaurant where the owner, Dina (Ronit Elkabetz) invites them to stay the night at her apartment, at her friends' apartment, and in the restaurant. That night challenges all of the characters. [http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/12/07/movies/07visi.html]

Critical reception

"The Band's Visit" was extremely well received by critics. As of Sept 23, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 98% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 99 reviews. [cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bands_visit/ |title="The Band's Visit" - Rotten Tomatoes |accessdate=2008-02-08 |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes]

Ray Bennett of "The Hollywood Reporter" named the film the second best of 2007,cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2007/toptens.shtml |title=Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists |accessdate=2008-01-05 |publisher=Metacritic] V.A. Musetto of the "New York Post" named it the 8th best film of 2007,and both Ella Taylor of "LA Weekly" and Associated Press film critic David Germain named it the 9th best film of 2007. [cite web|url=http://www.columbiatribune.com/2007/Dec/20071227Go!013.asp |title='No Country for Old Men' earns nod from AP critics |accessdate=2007-12-31 |author=David Germain |coauthors=Christy Lemire |date=2007-12-27 |publisher=Associated Press, via Columbia Daily Tribune]

Awards and nominations

Wins

*Best Film - Awards of the Israeli Film Academy
*Best Director - Awards of the Israeli Film Academy
*Best Actor - Awards of the Israeli Film Academy
*Best Actress - Awards of the Israeli Film Academy
*Best Supporting Actor - Awards of the Israeli Film Academy
*Best Music - Awards of the Israeli Film Academy
*Best Screenplay - Awards of the Israeli Film Academy
*Best Costumes - Awards of the Israeli Film Academy
*Un Certain Regard - Jury Coup de Coeur - Cannes Film Festival 2007
*Special Mention - Flanders International Film Festival
*Scythian Deer - Molodist International Film Festival
*Feature Film Award - Montreal Film Festival
*Audience Award - Sarajevo Film Festival
*Audience Award - Warsaw International Film Festival
*Grand Prix - Warsaw International Film Festival
*Golden Eye - Zurich Film Festival
*New Talent Award - Zurich Film Festival
*Best Actor - European Film Awards
*Best Un-released Film (in Australia) - Australian Film Critics Association Film Awards

Nominations

*Best Art Direction - Award of the Israeli Film Academy
*Best Cinematography - Award of the Israeli Film Academy
*Best Editing - Award of the Israeli Film Academy
*Best Sound - Award of the Israeli Film Academy
*Best Supporting Actress - Award of the Israeli Film Academy
*Best Screenplay - European Film Awards
*Grand Prix - Flanders International Film Festival

References

External links

* [http://www.thebandsvisit.com/ Official site]
*imdb title|id=1032856|title=The Band's Visit
*metacritic film|id=bandsvisit|title=The Band's Visit
*mojo title|id=bandsvisit|title=The Band's Visit
*amg movie|id=1:399243|title=The Band's Visit
* [http://www.imdb.com/video/editorial/me60016528/ Trailer] at the Internet Movie Database