SEVEN BLESSINGS
dir. Ayelet Menahemi, Israel, 2023, 111 min

POLISH PREMIERE. Marie returns from France to Israel after a long disconnect from her Moroccan family to marry her fiancé. During a week of seven festive meals in honor of the bride, old wounds and family secrets resurface and the celebration turns into a bier-sweet explosion of food, drama and belated forgiveness. In Israel’s official entry for the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film, Ayelet Menahemi’s SEVEN BLESSINGS revolves around an eventful Jewish Moroccan family wedding and the traditional week of celebrations. For seven nights festive dinners are hosted in the young couple’s honor. Behind the facade of joie de vivre and togetherness, there are secrets, lies and a painful old wound that forces everyone to confront the past while wrecking the present. Added to the mix is a joyous comedy of errors and misinterpretation by numerous members of the family speaking multiple languages, spanning Hebrew, Arabic, French, and the French Moroccan dialect. SEVEN BLESSINGS won big at this year’s Israel Academy Awards (Ophirs), sweeping the awards ceremony by taking home the Best Picture Award and triumphing in nine additional categories.