Bourekas films
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bourekas films (Hebrew: סרט בורקס), or movies, are a film genre, that was popular in Israeli cinema during the 1960s and 70s[1].
The term was supposedly coined by the Israeli film director Boaz Davidson, the creator of several such films as a play-on-words of the "spaghetti western" genre (known as such because that particular sub-genre of the Western films was produced in Italy) (Bourekas is a notable dish from the Israeli cuisine).
The main repeating theme in most of the Bourekas films was the conflict between cultures of the Israeli ethnicities, and in particular between the Mizrahi Jews and the Ashkenazi Jews. The hero was usually a Mizrahi Jew, almost always poor, canny and with life intelligence, who comes into conflict with the institutions of the state or figures of Ashkenazi origin - mostly portrayed as rich, conceited, arrogant, cold-hearted and alienated.
Bourekas films were characterised by the different accent imitations, and in particular the accent of Jews originating from Morocco, Persia and Poland, slapstick humour, alternate identities and a combination of comedy and melodrama.
The 1980s mark the end of this film genre, as Israel's film industry shifted to a more politically charged and highly-controversial topics.
