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Shai Carmeli-Pollak
festival
Sat 25 Apr 26 - Fri 1 May 26
  • Content rating: kijkwijzer14

A determined father, but without any certainty, chasing his equally determined son, also without any certainty, chasing the sea… Through almost magical coincidences, this plot unfolds light-heartedly but is deeply political. 

Khaled, who lives on the West Bank, and his classmates go to the beach for the first time in their lives. At the checkpoint he is the only person that is stopped. His permit is not in order and he is not allowed to go through. Defeated, he returns home. When his hardworking father cannot guarantee that he will soon be able to see the sea, Khaled takes matters into his own hands. 

When “The Sea” won the Ophir Award for Best Film in September 2025, chosen by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television, the Israeli Secretary of State for Culture Miki Zohar decided to pull the plug. With that award the film automatically became the nation’s Oscar entry, winning the prize for Best Screenplay. Through its almost magical scenario, the film exposes both large themes and smaller details, all manifestations of Israeli colonialism. The collaboration between the Israeli Shai Carmeli-Pollak and the Palestinian producer Baher Agbariya is a paragon of an alternative reality, one that by the end of the movie looks very distant, but is struggled for regardless, today more than ever. 

direction
Shai Carmeli-Pollak
duration
93 min
year
2025
country
Palestine, State of
language
Hebrew, Arabic
Subtitles
Nederlands
  • Content rating: kijkwijzer14

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Shai Carmeli-Pollak

director

"The mostly Arabic-language drama is sensitively attuned to the painful realities of the West Bank occupation." - Variety

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