''Jaffa'' (alternative name in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

כלת הים transliteration ''Kalat Hayam'', in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

عروس البحر transliteration "Arous el Bahr" both Hebrew and Arabic meaning "the bride of the sea") is a 2009 Israeli film directed by

Keren Yedaya Keren Yedaya (; born in 1972) is an Israeli filmmaker. She was born in the United States, but her family moved to Israel in 1975 when she was just three. She trained at the Camera Obscura School of Art in Tel Aviv. Biography Yedaya is known as a ...

. A joint Israeli, French and German production, it was given a special screening at the

2009 Cannes Film Festival The 62nd Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert served as jury president for the main competition. Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for the dram ...

Plot

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

is a mixed Palestinian - Jewish seaside city near

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, where Reuven Wolf ( Moni Moshonov) has a garage for repairing cars. His wife Ossi (

Ronit Elkabetz Ronit Elkabetz (; 27 November 1964 – 19 April 2016) was an Israeli actress, screenwriter and film director. She worked in both Israeli and French cinema. She won three Ophir Awards and received a total of seven nominations. Biography Elkabe ...

), a vain, self-centered woman, just makes everybody's life difficult. The couple's daughter, Mali Wolf ( Dana Ivgy), has secretly fallen in love with her childhood friend, the young Toufik (newcomer Mahmud Shalaby), a hard-working youth who has come as a helping hand to his Israeli-Palestinian father Hassan, a long-time mechanic working for Reuven. Meanwhile, Reuven's son Meir ( Roy Assaf) resents working in the garage and further resents the presence of Palestinian Toufik, and bullies him around. In a most tragic night, everybody's life is changed. Meir and his mother have a grave argument and she throws him out. Next morning, a crisis erupts between Meir and Toufik with the latter fatally injuring Meir in an unfortunate accident. This cancels the plan the already pregnant Mali and her lover Toufik had made to elope. Although she decides to have an abortion so as not to have a baby from her brother's killer, she eventually decides to keep the baby, concealing that the child is from Toufik, and the devastated Wolf family moves to

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...

. The story picks up after 9 years, when Toufik is released from jail and Mali Wolf is torn between allegiance to her family who has helped her raise the illegitimate child Shiran (Lili Ivgy) and her lover Toufik.

Cast

* Dana Ivgy as Mali Wolf * Moni Moshonov as Reuven Wolf *

as Osnat 'Ossi' Wolf * Mahmud Shalaby as Toufik * Hussein Yassin Mahajne as Hassan * Roy Assaf as Meir Wolf * Dalia Beger as Aunt Suzi * Lili Ivgy as Shiran Wolf * Zenabh Mahrab as Naima * Suma Zenabh as Evtesam

References

External links

''Jaffa'' section in Rezo Films official site
* 2009 films 2009 drama films 2000s Hebrew-language films Israeli–Palestinian conflict films Films shot in Israel Israeli drama films {{2000s-drama-film-stub