Looking for more info on this controversial film? After you get a taste of the tumult in this review of The Band’s Visit, find out what director Eran Kolirin has to say about it. In this month’s issue of JVibe, check out Kolirin’s responses to what the film means, its political intentions and why it didn’t meet Oscar standards.

The Band’s Visit, a sweet, funny and poignant tale of the travels of Egypt’s fictional Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra and its visit to Israel has been met with worldwide critical acclaim and does not fail to disappoint, despite its short 85 minutes of running time. Israeli writer-director Eran Kolirin’s feature film debut follows the stranded orchestra as it tries to make its way to a scheduled performance at the opening of an Arab cultural center in a small Israeli town, even though members are unable to make contact with their Israeli hosts or the Egyptian consulate for help.

Led by their inscrutable “general” Tewfiq (Sasson Gaban), dressed to the nines with his fellow band members in crisply ironed sky-blue police garb, the band wanders aimlessly until they meet Dina (Ronit Elkabetz), a bored, curious and free-spirited Israeli restaurant operator and her equally listless coworkers Papi (Shlomi Avraham) and Itzik (Rubi Moscovich), who offer to house and feed the band for the night. As members of the orchestra scatter with their new Israeli hosts, the focus of the movie centers around the burgeoning relationship between Tewfiq and Dina.

Another member of the band, the tall, handsome and sexually charged Khaled (Saleh Bakri), urges a stoic Tewfiq to accompany Dina for a night on the town while he heads out as the fifth wheel on a double date with Papi, a shy and insecure young adult who can’t speak to women because he “hears the sea in his ears.” As Khaled accompanies Papi and his date partners to a roller disco (and subsequently relates some suave advice to him through a series of hand gestures and icebreakers, which Papi mimics on his date), Tewfiq and Dina spend their night out drinking coffee, eating falafel and chatting at a make-believe playground.

Dina’s playful, outgoing attraction to the older and much more serious Tewfiq is evident, even though Tewfiq is hesitant to share much information on his family life. But it becomes clear that the equally lonely Tewfiq and Dina share many commonalities through their past life experiences. Their mutual affection and fondness for each other is evident, even though the spry Khaled’s eventual return to Dina’s apartment after his own night out causes some consternation among the trio. The next morning, the band is finally able to head to their final destination, but not before a touching and awkward goodbye between Tewfiq and Dina that makes your mind race full of possibilities for the diametrically opposite couple—one without any semblance of an immediate future but with the promise that they could, perhaps, meet on another day in another small town…somewhere.   

More than just a feel-good tale of those few characters, however, The Band’s Visit also subtly intertwines the vast cultural differences between the Egyptian band members and their Israeli hosts. Smaller tales are woven throughout the film that have the potential to make you squirm because of the ethnic clash of beliefs, but in the end signify that we all share the same basic experiences in life, perhaps just through a different set of eyes and vantage points.

Kolirin’s long frames, his blend of bright and dark backgrounds and straightforward colors allow you to create your own sense of time and place while keeping the focus on the subjects in the film, subjects that endear themselves to one another and the viewer with their yearning for happier times, along with just a little dash of music on the side.    

Winner of eight Israeli Academy Awards, along with awards and nominations from the Cannes Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival and Telluride Film Festival, The Band’s Visit opened in New York and Los Angeles in February, with a hopeful nationwide release later this spring.

For more information, visit the official website here.

Adam Marks is the Senior Marketing Associate for JVibe's publisher, JFL Media. His Hollywood crush is Natalie Portman and he's an unabashed fan of Josh Schwartz's new TV sensation Gossip Girl.