Bad Faith
Directed by: Roschdy Zem
Language: French, English subtitles
2006 | France | Belgium | 35mm | Color | California Premiere | 88 min
Topics: Romance, Interracial Relationships, Inter-faith relationships, French, Family Relationships, Comedy, Arabic, 20-Somethings
Clara and Ishmael are gorgeous, happy, in love and in Paris. How nice is that? Like many cosmopolitan Parisian couples, the fact that she is Jewish and he is Muslim barely crosses the minds of these oh-so-secular lovebirds...until Clara announces that she's pregnant. That's when the troubles start in this charming and timely romantic comedy whose title could have been "Guess Who's Coming to Shabbos Dinner?"
Though the premise is as old as Romeo and Juliet and as familiar as Meet the Parents, the Arab-Jewish frisson makes this film feel absolutely fresh. We're rooting for the couple - he (Roschdy Zem) a jazz music teacher, she (Cecile de France) a physical therapist - as they first must navigate the fear and disappointments of loved ones: Clara's parents, though not exactly observant, receive the news as a religious tragedy, while Ishmael's friends register it as a political earthquake. Suddenly baby names, circumcision and keeping Ramadan become flashpoints. Will Middle East politics break the couple apart? Can love really conquer all?
Actor Zem (Live and Become, SFJFF 2006) makes a fine directorial debut working with a snappy, sexy script. When Mama Breitmann demands to know if the baby will be Jewish or Muslim, Clara retorts, "He'll be French!"
Principal cast: Roschdy Zem, Cécile De France.
Presented with Kiss Is a Kiss Is a Kiss, A
Co-sponsored by Craig Harrison's Expressions of Excellence!™
Co-presented by the Alliance Française de San Francisco; Congregation Emanu-El/San Francisco; New Israel Fund; Project Welcome; Building Jewish Bridges, a program of Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay; and the Interfaith Connection, a program of JCCSF