Kazablan

Kazablan (Hebrew: קזבלן) is a very famous and popular Israeli musical film, released in 1974. The film is based on an Israeli Hebrew language play, written by Yigal Mossinson and staged in 1954.
The name Kazablan comes from Casablanca, the birthplace of the main character. The film’s huge success made Yehoram Gaon an overnight singing star and a figure of solidarity and pride for people of Sephardic origin, many of whom were entering a theatre for the first time.

The story has been called a Jewish adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet”. The plot involves a man and a woman who fall in love across different cultures: here, Kazablan is a Sephardic Jew from Morocco in love with Rachel, an Ashkenazi Jew from Europe.

While the two leaders share religion, their contrasting cultures, and ethnicities fuel community scandal and a bitter family feud.

The film was directed by Menahem Golan. It was shot in Jerusalem and Jaffa. The movie was filmed in both a Hebrew and an English version, and according to press releases, each scene was first filmed in one language and then the other.