“The Sea” is an emotional drama about a Palestinian boy who risks his life to go to the beach for the first time in Tel Aviv, and represents Israel in the Oscars international special race.
Directed by Shai Carmeli Pollak and produced by Baher Agbariya, the film won the best photo at the Ophir Awards, Israel, which is the equivalent of the Oscar. The film also won Best Screenplay, the 13-year-old Palestinian Star Muhammad Gazawi, the best actor.
The Ophiel Prize is voted by the Israeli Film and Television Academy. It brings together nearly 1,100 filmmakers, producers and actors.
“The Academy congratulates director Shay Kalmeli Pollak and producer Beha Agbarya for doing this powerful and moving job. Israeli film once again demonstrates the relevance and ability to respond to complex and painful realities.”
“It’s a film full of empathy. For all humans, especially for the main character, it’s a Palestinian child who dreams of seeing the ocean,” Amir said.
Filmed in Arabic and Hebrew, “The Sea” is “a delicate and sympathetic film, and we hope that there is humanity in general and that the only wish will reach the sea, especially towards its protagonist,” Amir said.
Also, Amir, a film producer with credits such as “Chazarot” and “Blue Box,” emphasized the symbolic meaning of the “sea” victory amid the war in Gaza, repeatedly attacking attacks from the Israeli government in the left-leaning film industry, which has been undermined by boycott calls. Last week, around 4,000 entertainment industry names, including Hollywood stars such as Emma Stone and Joaquin Phoenix, signed a petition calling for a boycott of Gaza’s Israeli film agency. And earlier this week at the Emmy Awards, Javier Bardem called for “commercial and diplomatic lockdowns and sanctions against Israel.”
“We live in a harsh reality as the never-ending war in Gaza is making a terrible sacrifice to death and destruction. The ability to see ‘other’ even if he is not your own people gives me a little hop,” he said. “Faced with the Israeli government’s attacks on Israeli cinema and culture, and calls from some of the international film community, the choice of ‘sea’ is a powerful and overwhelming response.
Amir also praised the fact that, like many films made in Israel, “the Sea” is “an Arabic film born from a collaboration between Jews and Palestinian Israelis.”
“The Sea” was one of several anti-war films in the running at the Ophir Awards, along with “Yes” by Nadav Lapid and “Oxygen” by Netalie.
