Matana MiShamayim

A part of the cast on the set

A Gift from Above (2003, Hebrew: מתנה משמיים, Matana MiShamayim, meaning: a gift from the sky) is an Israeli drama film, directed by Dover Kosashvili.^[1] Like two of Kosashvili's other films, Late Marriage (2001) and Im Hukim (1998), the dialogue on this film is partly in the Judaeo-Georgian language and partly in Hebrew. And since the Judaeo-Georgian language is a dialect, spoken by a small community,^[2] most of the cast had to learn it for this production.

The movie was a nominee to the Ophir Award in 11 categories.^[3]

Plot

The characters on this movie live like a closed tribe. Most of them live on the same block.^[4] Among themselves they speak a rare language. They put a lot of pressure on each other to get married only within their community. They are not much concerned about obeying the country's laws. And many of them work in the same place, Ben Gurion Airport luggage department,^[5] or help their community members, who do work there, to steal passengers' suitcases.

The community does not have a lot of money, but its folklore is rich and its life is full of parties, sex, violence and excitement.^[6] The most exciting happening there is the operation they're plotting, step by step, for stealing cargoes of diamonds from the airplanes. The plotting includes putting all the blame on two volunteers from within the community itself.

References