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‘Happy Holidays’ Review: A Dynamic Palestinian Family Drama Chronicles Arab and Jewish Lives in Israel
'Happy Holidays,' Palestinian director Scandal Copti's first feature since the Oscar-nominated 'Ajami,' is a lively, naturalistic ensemble piece.
Like his Oscar-nominated crime drama “Ajami” (which he co-directed with Yaron Shani), Copti’s second feature follows an ensemble of characters — Arab and Jewish alike — to assemble a multifaceted portrait of life in Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city. Copti and cinematographer Tim Kuhn shoot each interaction with an up-close, handheld intimacy that not only magnifies the subtle, powerful performances of the cast (many of them first-time actors), but welcomes the viewer into each scene, as though it were a complicated family reunion. For Shirley — who becomes the focus of her own chapter later on — this pregnancy means having to face familial pressures over the baby’s half-Arab ethnicity, especially from her sister Miri (Merav Mamorsky), whose otherwise personable interactions make for an unsettling contrast with her sharp venom towards Rami.
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