Directed by Ephraim Kishon
Narrative Feature
Israel | 1964 | 110 mins
In Hebrew, and English
with English subtitles
Watch TrailerThis sharp, often hilarious satire that became the most successful film in Israeli history, is about new immigrants Sallah and his family, who, like so many Jews in the state’s early years, lived in the ma’barot, ramshackle housing. This 1964 classic won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, putting Israel on the international film stage for the first time.
Ephraim Kishon
(Ferenc Hoffmann), (born Aug. 23, 1924, Budapest, Hung.—died Jan. 29, 2005, Appenzell, Switz.), Hungarian-born Israeli satirist who after surviving the Holocaust and immigrating to Israel, wrote prolifically and gained a large and appreciative audience, notably in Israel and Germany. Kishon was imprisoned in a Nazi forced-labour camp in 1944 but escaped while being transported to a death camp. He moved from Hungary to Israel in 1949, changing his name on arrival. Kishon learned Hebrew and by 1952 had a weekly column of social satire in the newspaper Ma’ariv. He wrote more than 50 well-received and widely translated books, as well as plays and motion pictures. Two of Kishon’s movies, which he also directed, won Golden Globe Awards for best foreign-language film: Sallah Shabati (1964) and Ha-Shoter Azulai (1970; The Policeman). Both of these films were also nominated for Academy Awards. Kishon was awarded the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement in 2002.