“The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem” had some drama in the making.

Israel’s acclaimed period drama series, “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem” now appearing on Netflix, was intended to begin filming in Kiev back in the early part of 2020.  But it was not to be. The Pandemic put a stop to that when all the borders shut down.  It looked like the whole production would need to be stalled but as the streets of Jerusalem, Safed and Acre became quiet, due to the lockdown, and many turned to an Everygame casino login, filming in these locations became doable.

“The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem is one of the most ambitious and high budget Israeli productions to date. It was created by Shlomo Mashiach, Ester Namdar Tamam and Oded Davidoff.  The drama is set in the early/mid-20th century and is adapted from the novel by Sarit Yishai-Levi which follows a family’s story during the Ottoman Empire, followed by the British Mandate period and then the Israeli War of Independence.

The well-known American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem allowed filming in the hotel’s courtyard and bar owing to the lack of guests due to the pandemic.   The use of a nearby museum to shoot a dance party was also possible for the same reason.     Israeli actors’ schedules also became more flexible at this time, like that of Michael Aloni from “Shtisel”, Itzik Cohen from “Fauda” and Hila Saada from “Beauty and the Baker”.

Wardrobe challenges

Being forced to film locally did not initially offer any benefits to Liron Cohen, the costume designer.   For Cohen, scouting out the multitude of costumes required for this extensive family saga was extremely challenging.  Having to source costumes for all the multigenerational characters who were living through the different periods was incredibly difficult.

Cohen said “In Kiev it was all arranged that I would have access to a well-established, enormous costume archive to replicate fashions from 1919 to the 1940s. The studio there also had the advantage of a storage facility to keep the thousands of sets of clothing needed to dress 49 main characters and many, many extras.”

Cohen, a graduate in fashion design with ten years of TV and movie production work learned during her research for the film just how much of a melting pot Jerusalem was during the first part of the 20th century.  She reports that “It was a society made up of a wide range of ethnic and social groups speaking many languages – Hebrew Ladino, Arabic, English and Turkish. Each group had its own distinct style of dress, made of different fabrics and with a variety of accessories.”  She went onto say “Some immigrants also transformed themselves in their new homeland. modifying heavy, woolen clothing to match the hot climate they now found themselves in.”

Amazing discoveries

The focus of the story is on the Ermozas, a Spanish-Judeo family.  Then there is Rochel, played by Yuval Scharf, and the love of Gabriel’s life, although unattainable, who is from a strictly Orthodox Ashkenazi community. The story also includes Irgun fighters, Arabs, Turkish and British, depending on who is ruling at the time.

In spite of the challenges presented by the huge task of finding suitable clothing for each and every person for each and every time period, the search proved incredibly fascinating.  She says “The magic really began when I found the vintage community in Israel.  There are many people here of all ages, men and women, who collect and preserve vintage clothing.  We started going from place to place and person to person collecting and buying.”

Most of the shoes and clothes used in the series are original, from the 1920s, 30s and 40s.   Cohen discovered a range of stores offering vintage clothing – Kilo in Tel Aviv, Golda in Herzliya and online - Betty in Vintage Land.   Some items were from private collectors and others were from estate sales. The 19th century wedding dress that was worn by the character Rosa (Hila Saada) was found in the studio of Reuma and Yoel who incorporate vintage fabrics into the creations they make.

British officers and Hassidim

It was fairly easy to find costumes for the characters playing ultra-orthodox members of the Toldot Aharon community as they remain the same today, black and white striped outfits. Also, the costumes for the British officers were also pretty easy to find.  A company in England who reproduce ‘historically correct’ military uniforms was found.

Costumes are important to bring attention to the time or period in question.  But costumes also create a persona and it was important for Cohen to stick to the brief given to her by the director and screenwriters.   For instance, when dressing Luna Ermoza, the young beauty played by Swell Ariel Or, Cohen says “We put her in revealing outfits showing her cleavage so that her liberated, sexy, flirty personality would be emphasized.”

Cohen also says “I chose the character of Rosa to show how women’s fashions evolve”, showing the passing of time. For example, she says “In the episodes which takesplace in the 1920s her dresses have low waists and are quite shapeless.  In the 30s, her dresses have a more defined waistline and skirts are to the knees.”

The Exotic

Cohen says that for her the Lebanese belly dancer, Aishi, was her favorite character, played by Luna Mansour.  Cohen says “I love Aishi for her feminist views.  She uses her strong intuition and intelligence to navigate the male environment she inhabits.  She knows how to play the game.”  She goes on to say “Her garments come from a wider world than Rosa Ermoza, who is a housewife, and her neighbor, Victoria Franco, (Mali Levy), who takes in people’s laundry.  Aishi wears bold jewelry from India and fabrics that are exotic and silky.”

Everyone involved in the making of this series was “swept up into a Jerusalem of years gone by”.    Cohen says “All of the cast and crew related closely to one or other of the communities portrayed in the series.” Cohen herself has a Moroccan mother and a Polish father.  She says that “Everyone had a moment where they said it reminded them of their grandparents, their history or of something nostalgic.  For me though, it’s the clothing that was like a beating heart, bringing it all to life.”