X
  • 2015
  • Not Rated
  • Strand Releasing
  • 1 h 44 m
  • 2015
  • Not Rated
  • Strand Releasing
  • 1 h 44 m

Summary Gifted Eyad (Tawfeek Barhom), a Palestinian Israeli boy, is given the chance to go to a prestigious Jewish boarding school in Jerusalem. As he desperately tries to fit in with his Jewish schoolmates and within Israeli society, Eyad develops a friendship with another outsider, Jonathan (Michael Moshonov) a boy suffering from muscular dys...

Directed By: Eran Riklis

Written By: Sayed Kashua

  • 2015
  • Not Rated
  • Strand Releasing
  • 1 h 44 m
  • 2015
  • Not Rated
  • Strand Releasing
  • 1 h 44 m

A Borrowed Identity

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 14 Critic Reviews
73
User Score Mixed or Average Based on 8 User Ratings
5.3
My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Where to Watch

Summary Gifted Eyad (Tawfeek Barhom), a Palestinian Israeli boy, is given the chance to go to a prestigious Jewish boarding school in Jerusalem. As he desperately tries to fit in with his Jewish schoolmates and within Israeli society, Eyad develops a friendship with another outsider, Jonathan (Michael Moshonov) a boy suffering from muscular dys...

Directed By: Eran Riklis

Written By: Sayed Kashua

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 14 Critic Reviews
73
93% Positive
13 Reviews
7% Mixed
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 14 Critic Reviews
73
93% Positive
13 Reviews
7% Mixed
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
Jul 23, 2015
Talented director Eran Riklis is interested in the coexistence of cultures, not violence, but that doesn’t mean his ending fails to carry an emotional wallop. It’s a doozy, and shows us that life can be a complex whirl of dueling identities.
FULL REVIEW
83
Jun 25, 2015
Films about this particular divide don’t get any kinder or gentler, but there’s a knowing sweetness to Dancing Arabs that doesn’t come off as particularly naïve or divorced from reality, at least taking some of the false hopes of the period into account.
By Chris Willman FULL REVIEW
80
Jun 25, 2015
Impressive acting (especially from Mr. Suliman and Yael Abecassis as Yonatan’s mother) enhances this thoughtful drama, directed with a sure hand by Mr. Riklis, a film veteran.
By Andy Webster FULL REVIEW
75
Jun 25, 2015
Riklis, working from an adaptation of a popular novel by the Arab-Israeli writer Sayed Kashua, is wryly perceptive of the ways each side exoticizes and demonizes the other.
FULL REVIEW
70
Jun 30, 2015
Traditional coming-of-age films like A Borrowed Identity don't often come from Israel, which is one of the film's points.
By Marsha McCreadie FULL REVIEW
70
Jun 25, 2015
The director’s observant approach to the material helps pave over the frustrations.
By Keith Phipps FULL REVIEW
60
Jun 26, 2015
Riklis’ strongest film in several years, this is another well-intentioned plea for coexistence, though apart from one scene that lays bare, with welcome righteousness, the disturbing orientalism infiltrating even Israeli intellectual circles, the whole thing is rather too scrubbed and clean.
By Jay Weissberg FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Mixed or Average Based on 8 User Ratings
5.3
50% Positive
4 Ratings
13% Mixed
1 Rating
38% Negative
3 Ratings

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Mixed or Average Based on 8 User Ratings
5.3
50% Positive
4 Ratings
13% Mixed
1 Rating
38% Negative
3 Ratings

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

Details

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Production Company United Channel Movies, MACT Productions, Alma Film, Riva Film, Heimatfilm, ZDF/Arte
Release Date Jun 26, 2015
Duration 1 h 44 m
Rating Not Rated
Genres
Website http://distrib.pyramidefilms.com/pyramide-distribution-catalogue/mon-fils.html
View All Details

Awards

Awards of the Israeli Film Academy
• 4 Nominations
Boulder International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Locarno International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination

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