| West Bank Story | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Ari Sandel |
| Written by | Kim Ray Ari Sandel |
| Produced by | Bill Boland Ashley Jordan Amy S. Kim Ravi Malhotra Ari Sandel Pascal Vaguelsy |
| Starring | Ben Newmark Noureen DeWulf Joey Naber A.J. Tannen |
| Cinematography | Gavin Kelly |
| Edited by | Avi Youabian |
| Music by | Yuval Ron |
Release date |
|
Running time | 21 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$73-74,000 |
West Bank Story is a 2005 American musical comedy short film directed by Ari Sandel, co-written by Sandel and Kim Ray, produced by Pascal Vaguelsy, Amy Kim, Ashley Jordan, Ravi Malhotra, Bill Boland, and featuring choreography by Ramon Del Barrio. The film is a parody of the classic 1961 musical film West Side Story, which in turn is an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. The film follows the rivalry between falafel restaurants, one Israeli and the other Palestinian, respectively named the "Kosher King" and the "Hummus Hut," and the romance between the latter's cashier and an Israeli soldier in the West Bank. The film stars Ben Newmark as the IDF soldier, Noureen DeWulf as the Palestinian cashier, A.J. Tannen as the Israeli restaurant owner, and Joey Naber as his Palestinian rival.
Filmed on a Santa Clarita, California ranch,[1] the short premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, and was screened at numerous additional film festivals across the world, garnering several awards. In 2007, at the 79th Academy Awards, it won the Oscar in the category Best Live Action Short Film.
- ^ The Haaretz (Feb. 2007), Musical comedy on West Bank wins Oscar for best live action short film