Our Fall Film Series begins with Running on Sand. The film will be available to stream beginning Friday, September 26, through Tuesday, September 30. We then invite you to join us online Tuesday, September 30, at noon ET for a Q&A with director and producer Adar Shafran, led by IIJS Film Programmer Stuart Weinstock.
Aumari, a young Eritrean refugee living in Israel, is about to be deported. At the airport, he is mistaken for Maccabi Netanya's new star player from Nigeria. Despite having no soccer skills, Aumari seizes the opportunity and finds himself lifting up the floundering team while bonding with the team's female CEO. Nominated for four Ophir Awards (Israel's Oscars), including Best Film, and winning the Audience Award at both the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the Boca International Jewish Film Festival, Running on Sand combines Ted Lasso-style humor with an empathic depiction of refugees' struggles, shedding light on the unseen and unheard in Israeli society.
(104 minutes; Hebrew and English with English subtitles)
Adar Shafran is a producer and co-owner of Firma Films, a Tel-Aviv-based production company making feature films, television series, and short-form content. He has produced films and a series with Haredi filmmaker Rama Burshtein (Fill the Void, The Wedding Plan, and Fire Dance) and with the comedy duo Guy Amir and Hanan Savyon (Maktub, Forgiveness, and Bros), among others. Running on Sand is Adar's first feature film as director.
Please register for the event below. You will receive an email with a link to watch the film on Friday, September 26. The link will remain active until Tuesday, September 30.
A separate email with the Zoom link to the Q&A will be sent the morning of Tuesday, September 30, ahead of the discussion at noon.
Please email iijs@columbia.edu with any questions.
Supported by the generosity of the Appel and Kaye families.
While all IIJS events are free and open to the public, we do encourage a suggested donation of $10.