The Unorthodox

Israel, 1983. Yaakov Cohen, a widower and a Sephardi Jew, gets tired of being pushed around after his daughter, whom he is bringing up on his own, is expelled from her school for not being an Ashkenazi. Propelled by the sense of injustice, Cohen and his friends establish a Sephardic-ultra-Orthodox list (which still exists and is represented in the Knesset) and get ready to face the world of dirty politics. 

While historical events in this film are rendered correctly, Israeli director Eliran Malka (this is his first feature film) dramatizes and reimagines real events in order to make the story engaging. He takes a historical drama about deprivations of an entire nation, of a national minority that is significant in numbers, and turns it into a comedy with light rhythm, but also with a substance. This is a crowd-pleaser, which can appeal to every audience.

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