Arranged

This is a delightful and thoughtful comedy.

Two supposedly diametrically opposed worlds meet in Rochel (Zoe Lister-Jones) an orthodox Jew and Nasira (Francis Benhamou) a Muslim.

Both woman are teachers who find that as they both have to find their husbands through the arranged marriage process they have more in common with each other than the secular world.

The delight is that is is a pretty straight-up great romantic comedy - Rochel keeps being set up with the wrong guys, Nasira gets the embarrassing dinner etc; of course, the road to true love is not smooth...

It really is very funny, witty - and well acted, especially Francis Benhamou as Nasira, who is stunning and positively lights up the screen with her smile.

Just a lovely film that deserves all the play it can get, and definitely deserves to be seen by anyone who loves romantic comedies.

Warmly recommended.

Arranged is a beautifully shot and written film that will pull you right into a story that we all hope happens. An Orthodox Jewish woman and a Muslim woman are both teachers who meet and become friends, learning about each other without the fraught biases that so often stop such a natural connection. In this case it's also a sensitive look at marriages often condemned as arranged and overly religious but quite often happening in a positive and consensual way. The film is quite an accomplishment. I saw it at SXSW and the audience was enthralled, teary and ultimately happy - a testament to the power of this film to help cross bridges and wipe away stereotypes.

I had no idea what to expect when I walked into this film at SXSW. All I knew was that it was about a Muslim and a Jew who become friends. I figured it would be some kind of Movie of the Week type film with a sentimental "let's all get along" message, but it turned out to be a lot more complicated and interesting than that.

The main plot is that an Orthodox Jew (Zoe Lister Jones) and a Muslim (Frances Benhamou) work at a public school together, and find that their conservative lifestyles and impending arranged marriages make them have more in common with each other than anybody else at the school... even though Jews and Muslims as groups historically have some problems with each other.

It establishes the worlds of Orthodox Judaism and Islam so pitch-perfectly that the movie is fascinating just on the level of observing the lives of others. Though, to be sure, Orthodox Judaism does seem to get a bit more screen time, probably because the writer and the director both have more direct experience with Judaism than Islam. What we do see of both worlds is rife with similarities: both are marked by a reverence for history and tradition, and both are somewhat suspicious of people not members of their particular group. What the two lead women in this film hope to do is embrace the first part of their identities, while rejecting the second part.

Because this story is more concerned with character than multiple plot points, it would have failed without good performances. Luckily, the filmmakers found Lister-Jones and Benhamou to play the Jewish woman and the Muslim woman, respectively. They turn in two flawless performances, and prove themselves to be actresses to watch.

An excellent film.

Summary: A traditional Muslim girl and Jewish girl work together at a school in Brooklyn. Together they experience what it means to adhere to religious and cultural convictions while pursuing one's happiness.

I respect the fact that both Muslims and Jews can live in harmony. I hope the world can learn from this and live in peace. I have friends of many different faiths and living in America gives us the freedom to live peacefully. Amazing. The movie accurately portrays what today's generation of religious Muslims and Jews go through in respect to family pressure and cultural convictions. I could relate to both of the characters and wished for both of the girls' happiness. I hope there are more movies like this to come, consisting of all types of cultures and religions.

This film screened at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX. This is a warm feel good film with a positive message that would be particularly good for teaching teens about overcoming prejudice and understanding different cultures. The film focuses on two young female teachers - one an Orthodox Jew and the other an observant Muslim - who are assigned to work together in a multi-ethnic school in Brooklyn.

The film is charming and uplifting as the two women learn that they have more in common with each other than either would have expected. They find friendship with each other, because they are both confronting similar issues with their parents and the secular world. They are also both undergoing the difficulty of trying to find a mate through their community's traditional systems of arranged marriage. While some of the characters come off as walking stereotypes (the Jewish matchmaker appears to be straight out of Fiddler on the Roof), the film for the most part does a sensitive job of portraying both Islam and Judaism in a very positive light. The film respects the women's genuine commitment to their faiths even as they struggle with difficult aspects of their faiths.

Arranged also shows the difficulties and prejudices that both women experience for being religiously observant from secular people (particularly the school's idiot principal). This latter subject is an important one that is rarely addressed in the secular film world where religion is too often mocked as irrational and oppressive - particular towards women - rather than understood on its own terms.

The acting and the script are sometimes uneven and there are moments that feel like an after school special. The conclusion is a bit too simplistic. But the message about both necessity and possibility of multi-religious co-existence is a good one presented with humor, warmth, and intelligence. In a world, where religion is often the basis of division and hatred, it is good to see a film that attempts to show that Jewish-Muslim co-existence is possible.