This forlorn comedy about an Egyptian orchestra stuck in Bumfuck,
Israel, is funny, sweet, and a shade lighter than the orchestra’s
baby-blue uniforms. It’s not going to solve any problems in the
Middle East, and it doesn’t attempt to, either. It’s just a quiet story
about the uncomfortable charm of coerced hospitality. You’ll
leave the theater just like the Arabs leave the town of Bet Hatikvah:
precisely the same as you were, but smiling. (Harvard
Exit, 807 E Roy St, 781-5755. 4:45, 7,
9:30 pm, $6.75–$9.25.)

Annie Wagner is The Stranger's former film editor. She was born and raised in Capitol Hill, but has since lived in such far-flung locales as Phoenix, AZ, Charlottesville, VA, and Wedgwood. After graduating...