West Bank Story (2005)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Ari Sandel

Writers:

Kim Ray (writer)
Ari Sandel (writer)

Genre:

Short | Comedy | Musical

Tagline:

a little singing, a little dancing, a lot of hummus.

Plot:

A musical comedy set in the fast-paced, fast-food world of competing falafel stands on the West Bank...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Israeli | Palestinian | West Bank | Fast Food Restaurant

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 5 wins

Cast

Ben Newmark	...	David
Noureen DeWulf	...	Fatima
A.J. Tannen	...	Ariel
Joey Naber	...	Ahmed
Assaf Cohen	...	Menorah Mickey
Haguy Wigdor	...	Ruvik
Oren Rehany	...	Uri
Nicholas Massouh	...	Mustafa
Will Greenberg	...	Shlomo
Sharif Abrams	...	Mahmoud / Masked Palestinian
Daniella Diezba	...	Ludmila
Keith Lal	...	Mohammed
Raymond Del Barrio	...	Bruce
Anthony Shams	...	Palestinian Costumer
Roger Marks	...	Israeli Customer
Hershel Remer	...	Rabbi with Torah / Fiddler on theRoof
Anita Vasan	...	Fatima (singing voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chelsea Hackett	...	Dancer
Paige Harman	...	Dancer
Ayana Haviv	...	Performer
Heather Lipson	...	Dancer
Jeffrey Tedmori	...	Kid in resturant (uncredited)

Directed by
Ari Sandel

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kim Ray		writer
Ari Sandel		writer

Produced by
Bill Boland	....	co-producer
Ashley Jordan	....	producer
Amy S. Kim	....	producer
Ravi Malhotra	....	producer
Ari Sandel	....	producer
Pascal Vaguelsy	....	producer

Original Music by
Yuval Ron

Cinematography by
Gavin Kelly

Film Editing by
Avi Youabian

Casting by
Steve Helgoth

Production Design by
Alethea Root

Set Decoration by
Rebecca Keeling

Makeup Department
Jill Ventimiglia	....	key makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Winnie Chong	....	second assistant director
Adam Lawson	....	first assistant director
Kate Pavri	....	second second assistant director
Victoria Wong	....	additional second assistant director

Art Department
Phillip Boutte Jr.	....	property master
Alex Dai	....	storyboard artist
Patrick O'Riley	....	set designer
Kristen Ridgway	....	on-set dresser
Meredith Riley	....	set dresser
Shawn Rodriguez	....	set designer

Sound Department
Sam C. Lewis	....	adr recordist
Sam C. Lewis	....	foley recordist
Michael McDonald	....	sound re-recording mixer
Michael McDonald	....	supervising sound editor
Richard Mercado	....	sound
Bob Packo	....	sound mixer
John Sanacore	....	sound recordist
Alex Ullrich	....	foley artist

Special Effects by
P. David Miller	....	pyrotechnician (as Paul D. Miller)

Visual Effects by
Bryan Cohen	....	post-production supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department
Matthew Barbor	....	gaffer
Eduardo Barraza	....	best boy grip
Brad Budde	....	grip
J.J. Gerber	....	second assistant camera
Brent Hansen	....	electrician
Tom Howard	....	key grip
Chris Hughes	....	best boy electric
Christopher Ivins	....	Steadicam operator
Daron Keet	....	first assistant camera
Erwin Landau	....	Steadicam operator
David Legois	....	film loader
Jared Leunis	....	electrician
BJ McDonnell	....	Steadicam operator
Sean P. Neelon	....	grip
Jeremy Schonwald	....	electrician
William S. White	....	first assistant camera

Casting Department
Sasha Adkinson	....	extras casting (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ivy Thaide	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Wade Felker	....	film-to-tape colorist

Music Department
Leo Flynn II	....	music preparation

Transportation Department
Alan Kaminsky	....	transportation

Other crew
Whitney Alexander	....	production assistant
Angela Bickell	....	production assistant
Temsy Chen	....	production assistant
Bill Davis	....	weapons coordinator
Raymond Del Barrio	....	choreographer
Claire Doré	....	animal wrangler
Claire Doré	....	goat handler
Paige Harman	....	assistant: director
Mohammed Hassan	....	production assistant
Ignatius Lin	....	production assistant
Jillian Schmitz	....	assistant choreographer
Edward Shen	....	production assistant
Danielle Snowdon	....	script supervisor

Thanks
Carla Blair	....	special thanks
Summer Lopez	....	special thanks
Sarah Ripard	....	special thanks

Distributors

• Magnolia Pictures (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Magnolia Pictures (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Sundance Channel (2008) (USA) (TV)

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera dollies

Runtime:

USA:21 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR (Digital)

Quotes:

Ahmed: Your side of the screen is encroaching on my side of the screen.
Ariel: No. You are clearly tainting my side of the screen.
Ahmed: Excuse me? Its *my* side of the screen!
Ahmed, Ariel: [simultaneously] You back up and start listening to me! You're *clearly* tainting my side of the screen!

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

Musical comedy revolving around the romance between an Israeli and a Jew

This film is hilarious! I just returned from the Sundance Film Festival, which is where I saw the film, and it got a great response from everyone in the audience. The cheers at the end were so loud, I was actually expecting a standing ovation. I attended the festival as an intern with the co-founders of the Harry M. Warner Film Institute. We're holding our first annual film festival this spring, and we went out to Sundance to see some films and get some more experience with festivals in general. After this show, both of my supervisors were so impressed that they approached the director of this film to see if he would be willing to submit a film to our festival. If you haven't seen this film yet, you are definitely missing out.