Dressed in full uniform and ready to perform, no one is there to greet the band when they arrive at the airport. Unable to make contact with their Israeli hosts or the Egyptian consulate, their bandleader Tewfiq (Sasson Gaban) decides to keep their appointment. Yet after a series of mishaps the band finds itself lost in a small Israeli town. Things look bad for the band until Dina (Ronit Elkabetz) and a few other Israelis invite them to stay the night.

During the remarkable stay the Israelis and Egyptians experience a cultural exchange perhaps more poignant than any concert could create.

With so many awards and nominations The Band’s Visit was on the short list for Oscar consideration. However, since the Israelis and Egyptians communicated with each other in English, the American Academy disqualified the film from consideration in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

In an exclusive interview conducted back in November, I met the 34-year-old Israeli Kolirin in Beverly Hills.  

Los Angeles Journal: Why did you want to tell this story?

Eran Kolirin: I don’t know. First I had this image of the character of n man (Tewfiq) in a uniform singing in Arabic and I followed him. It’s not a rational process. You follow an impulse and in the end there’s the story.

LAJ: What were you addressing about the relationships between Israelis and Egyptians?

EK: The disappearance of Egyptian culture in Israel troubled me. Israel and the rest of the region try to forget itself in Western dreams and giving up an identity of its own.

LAJ: Israel films are not screened in many Arab countries. Since your film has Egyptians will it be allowed into those areas?

EK: In Egypt there is a very strict ban on any kind of cultural exchange. There are a lot of political barriers preventing it from being really screened in Arab countries.

LAJ: What political intentions do you have this film?

EK: I don’t have intentions. I have questions and thoughts. If I could summarize all those questions and thoughts into one word or one sentence, it would have been stupid for me to spend so many years making the film. It has to be something more abstract than a message or an intention. Who am I? I am a Jew. How much of me is Arab? How much of me is the West? I have a feeling there’s some identity I was cut off from. These are part of the political questions maybe not normally dealt with, but they are part of the political process.

LAJ: What do you want the Jewish youth to get out of watching this film?

EK:  [Laughs.] I am not entitled to expect anyone to get anything out of the movie. I did this movie and I hope that it will give something to people.

LAJ: This has been an extremely successful feature debut. How are you addressing the pressures and pitfalls of those “Sophomore Blues” with your next film?

EK: I am not handling those pressures [laughs]. Maybe I’ll try collapsing.

LAJ: What can you tell us about your next film?

EK: Until I go back and start working I don’t really think I can say I’m doing something new.

LAJ: What do you think about the Academy’s decision to disqualify the film for not meeting the non-English criteria?

EK: I’ve stopped caring about it. [Laughs]. I don’t think any of those regulations apply to The Band’s Visit. Honestly, I don’t think anyone seeing this movie will not think it’s a foreign language film or a foreign film. Sometimes with big establishments the regulation becomes bigger than the ideas and sense behind them. Anyway, it’s their decision and it’s okay with me.

LAJ:You seem reluctant to talk about your work. What do you think about these interviews than? Do they serve the film or should the work speak for itself?

EK: [Laughs]. That’s a big question. One the hand you get addicted to answering these questions. Your ego is being fed by it [Laughs]. Big hotels, nice foods and lots of drinks are nice, but it’s not really my work or something that fills me like being creative.