On April 16th, the Israeli film The Unorthodox written and directed by Eliran Malka held a press conference at Beijing Hotel·Nuo. The film was shortlisted for the 9th BJIFF Tiantan Award. The film’s creative director Mihal Aphlahami and post-production director Amil Ben Halok attended the press conference.

　　The film tells the story of the pressman Yaakov Cohen in Jerusalem in 1983 who decides to fight for his ethnic group after his daughter is fired by her school because of her ethnicity. Despite all kinds of unimaginable difficulties, Yaakov Cohen, with determination and passion, starts the first ethnic political group in Jerusalem. They believe Sephardic Jews should hold their heads high. In fighting for their legal rights and interests, they have experienced many hardships, as well as failures and success.

　　According to the creative director Mihal Aphlahami, director Eliran Malka is a pious person, just like the hero in his film. He is not afraid of trying and is persistent in realizing his dream. Before creation, he would first think of a grand subject, such as ethnicity and belief. Then, he would integrate those thoughts in the creation of his story and survey our everyday life with a serious attitude. The life itself is the real source of the director’s creation. 

　　Speaking of the production of the film, Aphlahami said that in the original plan, The Unorthodox was a big-budget production, however, due to the limited final budget, they had to change the plan, but because of that, the creation made full use of local conditions and made good use of every penny they had. The whole shooting process was charmingly challenging. And the happiest thing is that the whole team enjoyed such state of creation very much and bravely completed the challenge. 

　　Moreover, it’s interesting that because the story of The Unorthodox happened in the 1980s, before the shooting, the staff tried their best within their power to search for articles from the 1980s. The documentary of the film has faithfully recorded it all.

　　Post-production director Amil said earnestly that what’s more challenging was the ingenious use of film music, which recombines many scenes with conflicts together and correctly delivers them to the audience. 

　　Music plays a vital role in The Unorthodox. Aphlahami didn’t want to advance the narrative or express thoughts with the traditional music or traditional methods but to adopt more cheerful and popular music and add new elements that can enhance audiences’ sensory experience in a more effective way and make The Unorthodox a movie that audiences can be drawn into its story by not only watching it but also listening to it. Actually, the film is more like a road film, and the upbeat music has helped create a sense of empathy.

　　As we all know, there are a lot of clear and fierce conflicts in Israel. It always sparks controversy when such issues are touched. Aphlahami said at last that she hoped that in future her company would produce all kinds of works that reflect conflicts such as ethnicity and belief and share and explore the complexity of humanity with the audience.

　　This is their first visit to China. They said they looked forward to participating in the activities of the 9th BJIFF and thanked the 9th BJIFF for inviting them.