Savoy

<p><img alt="Laurel icon denoting the film is in competition for a Jury Prize." border="0" src="https://data.ajff.org/sites/default/files/2023-01/laurel_2023_JuryPrize_01.png" style="width:20%; max-width:20%; margin-left:10px; float:right;" />A young housewife becomes a fearless hostage mediator, only to be defamed, in this gripping, hybrid docufiction telling of a Tel Aviv terrorist siege. On a deadly March 1975 night, PLO gunmen enter the Savoy Hotel, seizing hostages and demanding release of Palestinian prisoners. Among the captives is Kochava Levy, a young woman of Yemini descent, whose fluency in Arabic allowed her to relay messages between IDF negotiators and the terrorists. A later revelation that the married mother was at the hotel with her lover, brings shame and slander. New archival material, riveting reenactments, and stunning direction and editing, bolster Dana Ivgy’s sympathetic, complex portrayal of the maligned heroine who used language and humanity to connect with the enemy.</p>