We’re pleased to announce The Infidel is released in Ireland this weekend!

Here’s what The Irish Times say about it:

DONALD CLARKE, Friday, June 4, 2010

IT’S ALL about the clash of faiths these days. A few weeks back, we got Chiris Morris’s Four Lions , a murky comedy concerning Islamicist suicide bombers. Now well known clever-clogs David Baddiel offers us a farce concerning a London Muslim (Omid Djalili) who discovers he was born a Jew.

The comparison is illuminating. The Infidel , written by Baddiel and directed by Josh Appignanesi, is an altogether less edgy affair than Four Lions . The film features, in essence, the sort of identity-swap plot – minus the supernatural element – that drives so many Rob Schneider comedies. One minute Rob’s a surfer; the next he’s a fish. One minute Omid’s a Pakistani cab driver; the next he’s telling anecdotes at a noisy Bar mitzvah.

Yet, for all its crudity, The Infidel probably comes closer to achieving its humble aims than Four Lions (actually released after the Baddiel film in the UK) did in pulling-off its more ambitious, more transgressive objectives.

You can read the full article here

The Brits breaking new ground in New York City

By Sebastian Doggart
Published: 9:22AM BST 21 May 2010

Tribeca has become a major fixture on the calendar of world cinema. And after attending a whirlwind of screenings, round-tables and parties, I can confirm that this year both the Union Jack and the Irish tricolour were flying proudly across its screens.

The comedian and rising British star Omid Djalili was premiering two films. “On the plane home,” he told me once he was back in England, “I was sitting next to Andy Serkis [the human behind Gollum and King Kong] whose performance as Ian Dury in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll had earned him plaudits. Andy and I joked that we were like the British Olympic team flying home with medals round our necks.”

The festival paid special attention to Djalili’s two movies. Just Like Us is a documentary about a group of stand-up “comedy ambassadors” who tour the Middle East to break down cultural barriers with humour. His other film, The Infidel, written by David Baddiel, is a ballsy life-swap comedy that centres on Djalili’s character, an anti-semitic Muslim Homer Simpson, who discovers he is actually adopted and born an orthodox Jew called Solly Shimshillewitz.

“New York audiences really seemed to get it,” Djalili said. “They saw how tough it is to make race and religion funny. De Niro told me he loved how we had portrayed a Muslim Everyman for the first time. He called me ‘the man of the festival’.”

As I concluded my interview with the “man of the festival” Djalili, who can be also seen in the forthcoming Sex and
the City 2, I asked him what he came away with from the Tribeca festival.

“It was wonderful to have our film appreciated, and treated like a massive event,” he told me. “It’s also great to see that New York has reclaimed its cultural heritage after 9/11.”

The Infidel

A Muslim Who Just May Be Jewish

Sometimes the best way to approach an inflammatory or scary subject — death, for instance, or corporate malfeasance — is through humor. That is what “The Infidel,” an amusing little film from Britain, does with one of the touchiest subjects of them all, the animosity between Jews and Muslims.

Omid Djalili has a fine time playing Mahmud, a moderate Muslim in England who discovers while cleaning out his recently deceased mother’s house that he was adopted and was born to Jewish parents. The revelation comes at the worst possible time: Mahmud’s son is trying to impress a radical Muslim cleric who happens to be the stepfather of his fiancée.

Mr. Djalili is delightful as he sneaks behind his family’s back, trying to learn what being Jewish is all about. He pairs nicely with Richard Schiff, playing an American Jew who helps him.

The humor in David Baddiel’s script isn’t particularly caustic — “South Park” need not fear this competition — and the film cops out with an improbable ending, rather than making a statement. But the director, Josh Appignanesi, has a nice sense of comic timing, slipping in some of the best jokes when you least expect them. And Mr. Djalili manages to make his foul-mouthed character — goodness, those moderate Muslims curse a lot — an object of sympathy, essential for pulling off this type of tale.

THE INFIDEL

Opens on Wednesday in Manhattan.

Directed by Josh Appignanesi; written by David Baddiel; director of photography, Natasha Braier; edited by Kim Gaster; music by Erran Baron Cohen; production designer, Erik Rehl; costumes by Marianne Agertoft; produced by Arvind Ethan David, Uzma Hasan and Stewart le Marechal; released by Tribeca Film. At the Tribeca Cinemas, 54 Varick Street, at Laight Street. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes. This film is not rated.

WITH: Omid Djalili (Mahmud), Richard Schiff (Lenny), Archie Panjabi (Saamiya), Amit Shah (Rashid), Igal Naor (Arshad) and Mina Anwar (Muna).

THE INFIDEL is available on VOD throughout the United States

Why should you download it?  Well, here’s what the US press are saying…

“Great laughs in this sweet comedy…. Djalili is delightful” – The New York Times

“”Very funny…The Infidel makes great use of it’s two major assets: the comedic talents of Omid D
and the inherent absurdity of hysterical hatreds.” – Variety

“The two leads make a terrific comic team, with Djalili’s deadpan style of physical humor
perfectly complementing Schiff’s hilarious, fast-paced wisecracking” Hollywood Reporter

Meantime in the UK it’s still on in cinemas – use FindAnyFilm box below to see if it’s on near you…

Still haven’t seen The Infidel? Maybe you already have but want to see it again? Don’t fear! Click here to find out the latest list of cinemas playing the film.

The Infidel has been called a “stand-out” film of the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Click here to read the article by The Epoch Times. To see photos of the film’s creative team strutting on the red carpet in New York head on over to The Infidel’s Facebook page.

The Infidel has had it’s United States premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York and you can read Hollywood trade publication, Variety’s review right here!

From Friday morning, The Infidel will be playing on even more screens nationwide. Click here to see the full list!

Continuing The Infidel’s non-stop PR campaign, click here to check out the film’s writer, David Baddiel and producer, Arvind Ethan David talking on BBC News’ Impact Asia.

So you know there is only one choice that makes sense…. use the FIND ANY FILM widgit below to see where the movie is playing near you and go and get those tasty two-for-one offers that Orange (also the colour of the movie!) can bring….

As a special treat for you on this glorious Orange Wednesday, here is the final, and best yet, episode of David’s Video Blogs….