| Sallah Shabati | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ephraim Kishon |
| Produced by | Menahem Golan |
| Starring | Chaim Topol Arik Einstein Gila Almagor Shraga Friedman |
| Release date(s) | June 1964 |
| Running time | 110 minutes |
| Country | Israel |
| Language | Hebrew |
Sallah Shabati (Hebrew: סאלח שבתי) is a 1964 Israeli comedy film about the chaos of Israeli immigration and resettlement. This social satire placed the director Ephraim Kishon and producer Menahem Golan among the first Israeli filmmakers to achieve international success. It also introduced actor Chaim Topol (Fiddler on the Roof) to audiences worldwide.
The film's name, Sallah Shabati is a play on words; ostensibly a Yemenite Jewish name, it is also intended to evoke the phrase סליחה שבאתי, "sorry that I came". In earlier print versions of Kishon's short stories which were revised for the film, the character was known as Saadia Shabtai.
This film was nominated for a 1964 Academy Award in the category of Best Foreign Language Film, a first for an Israeli production, but it lost the Oscar to the Italian film, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.[1]
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The film begins with Sallah Shabati, a Mizrahi Jewish immigrant, arriving with his family in Israel. Upon arrival he is brought to live in a ma'abara, or transit camp. He is given a broken down, one room shack in which to live in with his family and spends the rest of the movie attempting to make enough money to purchase adequate housing. His money-making schemes are often comical and frequently satirizes the political and social stereotypes in Israel of the time.
At first, Foreign Affairs Minister Golda Meir refused to let the film leave the country because of her unflattering portrayal in the film.
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