February 2003 Foreign Sister

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Reviewed by Wilson Morales Foreign Sister Director: Dan Wolman Screenwriter: Dan Wolman Cinematographer: Itamar Hadar Editor: Shoshana Wolman Music: Slava Ganelin Cast: Tamar Yerushalmi, Askala Markos, Zvi Salton, Miryam Nevo, & Neli Tagar Language: In Hebrew with English subtitles For some people, making others happy seems too much of a chore. Being the matriarch of a family takes its toll at times. For some, daily responsibilities involve cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner, cleaning and washing clothes, and even waking everyone up and making sure everyone gets to school or work. Sounds like a lot of work. While it may seem so, it’s no way compared to those who sneak into a country and work just as hard to make enough money to send home for their families. In Dan Wolman’s new film, FOREIGN SISTER, he examines the complexities faced by illegal immigrants as they struggle to live comfortably in a new environment while opening the eyes of someone who has already has it, but struggles with it. Everyday Naomi, a 50-year old woman from Tel Avi, wakes up early in the morning with the same routine. She takes out the garbage, washes last night’s dishes, starts doing laundry, and wakes up the family for work and school. She’s bored and tired out of her mind. She craves excitement or something different. When her husband decides to ease her stress, he hires a maid to help her out. Negist (Markos), the maid, is an Ethiopian Christian illegal worker. At first reluctant to let Negist handle a lot of her work, Naomi warms up to Negist, and is shock to discover her maid’s plight for comfort. Not only is Negist in the country illegal and avoiding deportation, she lives in a house with 9 other illegal immigrants. Wolman has created a remarkable situation where one sees how life is not easy for those who don’t have a roof over their head, or a husband and family that are there to take care of you. Although the setting is in Israel, the story is universal in that many foreigners come to different countries illegally in search for a better opportunity to make enough money for their families to live happily. Wolman also uses the relationship developed by the two women to demonstrate that although they are different in age, race, and religion, they have a lot in common when it comes to working hard to make the family happy. While this is the backdrop of the story, less is focused on the struggled faced by the many illegal immigrants that enter the country and face many hardships. Still this small film offers a glimpse what others are keenly aware of, but don’t do much to help out.