Don’t miss the chance to see movie which won five awards in Israel’s ‘Oscars’
Nandauri is set in patriarchal community in Georgia and stars 'Gitti' from Shtisel
Nandauri is set in Europe’s answer to the Wild West – the craggy mountains of Georgia, where men are relentlessly macho and women are trophies to be married off by their fathers, ruled by their husbands and protected by chivalrous strangers in a land fiercely attached to its traditions.
Yet Eti Tsicko, the award-winning writer and director of this cinematic – and sexy – film nominated for Best Picture in the UKJFF, intends the film as a reconciliation with her parents’ native land.
“When they emigrated to Israel they fiercely preserved their traditions, down to keeping marriages within the Georgian community,” says Tsicko.
Like the mostly unseen character who drives the plot, Tsicko’s elder sister had an arranged marriage, and she only escaped her family’s designs on her own future by leaving home at 18. But she has stayed close to her family, “though the community is still very patriarchal. Kidnapping brides sounds shocking, but for us it’s not – it’s something you do when you want to marry. As a child I really wanted to be the wife of a man and discover him only after getting married, and making films about my heritage was my way back in to not throwing away that part of my identity.”
Nandauri, which means “the one I long for”, gives Shtisel fans the chance to see another riveting performance by award-winning Israeli actress Neta Riskin. Like Gitti in the long-running TV drama, her character is a clever, determined woman scheming her way around the limitations of a man’s world. However in this role she is a stylish, independent modern lawyer rather than a Charedi wife forced to exert her influence under the radar. Her magnificent embroidered coat, which garnered its own award, represents both her Georgian heritage and the success and affluence gained from an education in Israel, to where her character, Marina, emigrated as a child.
Riskin, who studied Georgian for a year and appears in virtually every scene, won a Best Actress award in the Ophirs, Israel’s answer to the Oscars, in which Nandauri swept the board, also picking up Best Director, Cinematography and Make-Up as well as Costume, winning five of the nine categories in which it was nominated. It is a huge achievement for Tsicko, who won the prize for Best Israeli Debut Feature at the Jerusalem Film Festival and is now working on her second feature, also based in Georgia.
While the hazards of filming there – tortuous roads and sometimes freezing weather – were tough, there were also unique advantages, like access to the tailors who made that fabulous coat. “We had it made in Georgia; the colour of pomegranates women wear when they dance at traditional gatherings was an inspiration,” says Tsicko. Given the predilection for pomegranates in in Israel too, the coat illustrates poignantly that Marina is a product of both cultures.
Like all the characters with a different Nandauri, hers is the world and identity she left behind in childhood: “Things are not perfect in Georgia or in Israel, but perhaps that’s the true beauty – accepting the complexity of all the sides of your heritage,” says Tsicko.
Eti Tsicko will take part in a Q&A at the 12 November screening of Nandauri at the Phoenix Cinema, East Finchley ukjewishfilm.org/event/nandauri/
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
