To Take A Wife / Ve'lakhta lehe isha
Israel | France , 2004.

Directed by: Ronit Elkabetz, Shlomi Elkabetz
Script: Ronit Elkabetz, Shlomi Elkabetz
Producer: Eric Cohen, Jean-Philippe Reza, Marek Rozenbaum, Itai Tamir
Cinematography: Yaron Scharf
Editing: Joel Alexis
Music: Michel Korb
Cast: Ronit Elkabetz, Simon Abkarian, Gilbert Melki, Dalia Malka Beger

Format: 35mm
Running time: 97'

Synopsis
Peculiarities of this film start with the production details. Director and writer roles are taken in couples by brother and sister Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz. Further, the film is a very personal half-autobiography, and the detail which renders the story suspicious is the plot itself. After twenty years of marriage, hairdresser Vivian (played by the sister, Ronit Elkabetz) wants a divorce, but her seven brothers gathered in Haifa on a Wednesday evening in 1979 want to talk her out of it. However, not even her four children succeed at it. Concentrated in three days of preparations for Shabbat, the film story tells about love that is gone, emotional coldness, daily routine and the tradition which remains one of the strongest social factors despite modernization. It is frequently compared to legendary films by John Cassavetes on the same subject.

Awards
The film left many festivals with awards, for instance it won Audience award for the best film at Mostra, the critics award, Special mention and the best actor award, to Simon Abkarian, at Thessaloniki Film Festival, and FIPRESCI award at London Film Festival… In Hamburg it was awarded by the audience and the audience at Jerusalem Film Festival awarded the lead actress.

Directors Biography
Shlomi Elkabetz was born in Israel in 1972 to a Moroccan family. A director and writer, he studied acting and photography in New York. He lives in Israel, teaches at the film school ASCOLA TLV and writes his first novel. "To take a wife" is his first feature film.

Ronit Elkabetz is the oldest of four children and the only girl in the family. She was born in Beersheba in 1965. After working in fashion design she got into film as an actress and has become one of the most appreciated actresses in Israel. The film we have the opportunity to see is her first directing and writing adventure, and the lead role won her the best actress award at Jerusalem Film Festival in 2004. She lives in Paris.

Location and screening schedule: Cinema SC, Friday, October 21st at 20