Film Review: Shoshana
by Christine Riney

Michael Winterbottom, UK, Italy 2023

Tel Aviv, Palestine, in the 1930s Shoshana (Irina Starshenbaum) is a young, idealistic Zionist who falls in love with Thomas (Douglas Booth), a British Officer sent to suppress terrorism in the Arab and Jewish communities. The time, during the British mandate in Palestine, is one of violence, radicalisation, and insecurity. For these two opposites their love for each other is tested to the brink and beyond.

This is a fictionalized account of Shoshana Borochov’s relationship with Thomas, however it is based on historical facts and real people. A time when the idea of a two-state solution was in its infancy, a time when atrocities between Arab and Jewish communities were foretelling the future. Using old footage, along with brief historical facts, the story unfolds providing us with a view into disparate factions at the time which speak to our current reality.