Full Description
Where can you find the best hummus in the world, and what goes into it? This doc is a fun and fascinating look at the highly competitive hummus restaurant business in Israel. From Suheila, a single Muslim woman who is known for her legendary hummus and her obsessively clean shop, to Jalil, a Christian Arab hipster in Ramle who runs his father’s hummus joint, to Eliyahu, a born-again Orthodox Jew who runs a hummus restaurant next to a gas station, the film takes us around Israel and Lebanon to see just how powerful this chickpea spread can be. Hummus! The Movie doesn’t shy away from hummus-related conflict. Director Oren Rosenfeld, who has made films for the BBC, National Geographic and the History Channel, takes on the hummus wars between Lebanon and Israel and the intense competition between hummus joints in hummus hot spot Abu Ghosh, an Arab village in Israel west of Jerusalem. But mostly the film revels in the joys of hummus and the way it can bring people together. It even features a hummus-themed reggae soundtrack, featuring martial artist Aluf Abir. As Rosenfeld says on his website, “Hummus has the power to bring Muslims, Christians and Jews together, in the Middle East, America and around the world.”
—Tamar Fox
