OUT OF THE BLUE (ETSBA ELOHIM) (Igal Bursztyn, 2008)
Bryant Park Hotel Screening Room
40 West 40th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Thursday, May 20, $18, 7:30
www.dorchadashusa.org
In British-born Israeli author and filmmaker Igal Bursztyn’s absurdist romantic comedy, Shabtai (Alon Abutbul) and Herzel (Moshe Ivgy) are a sad-sack Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, going through life in their own unique, bizarre way. Low-grade junk dealers who putt-putt around the outskirts of Tel-Aviv in a ramshackle motorcycle/cart contraption, Shabtai dreams of local cosmetics queen Lily Dekel (Dorit Bar-Or), while Herzel has a crush on his partner’s daughter, Batya (Zehavit Passi), who is still in school. Determined to meet his red-haired beauty, Shabtai decides to bring her a legless Ping-Pong table as a gift; meanwhile, Herzel spends many an afternoon watching Batya play Ping-Pong from behind the school gates. It takes a while to warm up to Shabtai, who is a rather unpleasant fellow, but Herzel is charming from the get-go, wearing a simplistic, never-ending smile the whole way through. Igvy and Abutbul shared the Best Actor prize at the 2008 Jerusalem Film Festival, while the film garnered seven nominations at the Israeli Film Academy Awards, including Best Actor (Igvy), Best Supporting Actor (Abutbul), Best Screenplay (Burstyn), and Best Film, taking home Best Music (Israel Bright). OUT OF THE BLUE will be screening on May 20 at the Bryant Park Hotel as part of the Dor Chadash Israeli Film Series, preceded by a reception at 7:30 and a discussion with Bursztyn, “Escaping Israeli Reality Through Israeli Cinema,” at 8:00.