Sallah Shabati

Sallah Shabati
סאלח שבתי
Directed byEphraim Kishon
Written byEphraim Kishon
Produced byMenahem Golan
StarringChaim Topol
Arik Einstein
Gila Almagor
Shraga Friedman
CinematographyFloyd Crosby
Production
company
Distributed byNoah Films
Release date
  • June 1964 (1964-06)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryIsrael
LanguageHebrew
Budget400,000 lirot.

Sallah Shabati (Hebrew: סאלח שבתי) is a 1964 Israeli comedy film about the chaos of Israeli immigration and resettlement, as well as the issues Mizrahi Jews faced in the developing Israeli society. This social satire placed the director Ephraim Kishon and producer Menahem Golan among the first Israeli filmmakers to achieve international success. It also introduced to audiences to actor Chaim Topol, who would later achieve even greater recognition with the 1971 American period musical film Fiddler on the Roof.

The protagonist's name, Sallah Shabati, is perhaps a play on the phrase סליחה שבאתי, Sliḥa she'bati, "I apologise for coming/I regret coming here". In earlier print versions of Kishon's short stories which were revised for the film, the character was known as Saadia Shabtai.

This is the first Israeli film to be nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and the first to win the Golden Globe award for best Foreign Film. Later, it was also produced as a musical.