Asia (film)


Asia is a 2020 Israeli drama film directed by Ruthy Pribar, starring Alena Yiv and Shira Haas. The film was premiered online at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the awards for Best Actress, Best Cinematography as well as the Nora Ephron Prize. Menemsha Films gained North American distribution rights to the film in June 2020, and announced its theatrical premiere at Film Forum in New York City in 2020.

Premise

Asia is a mother-daughter drama film. A thirty-five year old single mother named Asia immigrated to Jerusalem from Russia with her daughter Vika, where she works as a nurse at a hospital. IndieWire wrote:

Cast

Filming for Asia took place in late 2018. The film was edited by Neta Dvorkis and produced by Yoav Roeh and Aurit Zamir with casting direction by Esther Kling, the same director who assigned Shira Haas with her award-winning debut role in Princess.

Release

Asia premiered online at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival, which could not take place physically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film is spoken in Hebrew and Russian with English subtitles. The movie had its first screening on 17 April 2020

Reception

Critical response

, the film holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on seven reviews with an average rating of 7.52 out of 10. Eric John of IndieWire described the film as "A modest, intimate mother-daughter drama with one of the most wrenching finales in recent memory." David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter wrote "Ruthy Pribar makes an assured feature debut, balancing sobriety with emotional intensity in Asia"

Accolades

After premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival, the film won 3 awards: Best International Actress for Shira Haas, Best Cinematography for Daniella Nowitz and the Nora Ephron Prize for Ruthy Pribar. The latter is a $25,000 prize awarded to a female writer or filmmaker "with a distinctive voice". The jury of the festival wrote about Haas: "Her face is a never-ending landscape in which even the tiniest expression is heartbreaking; she’s an incredibly honest and present actress who brings depth to everything she does."