Zrubavel

The sacrifices made by immigrant families in Israel are painfully apparent in this absorbing drama — the first Israeli feature made by an Ethiopian cast and crew. Family patriarch Getei works as a street sweeper, foregoing personal status for a ‘better’ life while grieving for his eldest son, killed fighting for their new homeland. Getei’s grandson Yitzhak idolizes Spike Lee, filming the multicultural neighborhood rather than studying for his bar mitzvah — to the annoyance of his strictly observant father Issachar. Getei has an arranged marriage in mind for beautiful Almaz, an aspiring singer. Almaz has other ideas, defying her father by seeing Tupac, a distant cousin culturally forbidden as a match. Meanwhile, Getei scrimps and saves to send wayward son Gili to military school. Writer-director Shmuel Beru invests his debut with uncommon candor and warmth, and by at last acknowledging Israel’s vibrant Ethiopian community Zrubavel can be claimed as a cinematic milestone.