Shoshana

Southeast US Premiere

Set in British Mandatory Palestine, this gripping historical thriller from legendary British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom weaves a story of star-crossed love with one of political radicalization. The year is 1938, on the eve of the Second World War, and tensions run high in Tel Aviv where the British struggle to maintain order among a mixed Palestinian and Jewish population. Yet English police officer Thomas Wilkin (Douglas Booth from Jupiter Ascending and Loving Vincent) has made his home here — and is madly in love with Shoshana (Irina Starshenbaum from MJFF 2019 film Leto), daughter of Zionist Labor movement co-founder Dov Ber Borochov.

As the paramilitary organization Irgun, led by poet Avraham Stern, undertakes a violent campaign to evict the British authorities, Thomas and his superior officer Geoffrey Morton (Harry Melling from the Harry Potter films and The Queen’s Gambit) adopt a zero-tolerance policy toward the resistance, intensifying their tactics to include torture. Meanwhile, Shoshana receives death threats for daring to fraternize with a member of the occupying forces. She loves Thomas, but she also believes in the pursuit of her people’s independence. She will be forced to choose between the two.

In the works for 15 years and based on true stories and real events, the film is plotted with surgical precision, and every scene is brisk — which makes its effect that much more shocking. With its subtle homage to The Third Man, its carefully staged set pieces, and its propulsive pace, Shoshana makes for great entertainment, but it is also an insightful portrait of the legacy of British colonialism and where today's conflicts began.