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‘Unorthodox’ Stars Shira Haas, Amit Rahav Take Home Wins at Independent Spirit Awards
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Shira Haas in “Unorthodox.” Photo: YouTube screenshot.
The two Israeli lead actors of the Netflix mini-series “Unorthodox” both picked up wins at the 36th annual Film Independent Spirt Awards on Thursday.
Shira Haas — who plays an ultra-Orthodox woman fleeing Brooklyn’s Satmar community in the 2020 Netflix drama — won the award for Best Female Performance in a Scripted Series at the virtual ceremony, hosted by “Saturday Night Live” cast member Melissa Villaseñor. Amit Rahav, who stars as Haas’ husband in “Unorthodox,” took home the win for Best Male Performance in a Scripted Series.
Both actors appeared shocked by the win in videos shared on social media. Haas said in her acceptance speech that she was “not expecting” to take home the award, while Rahav wrote in an Instagram post that he is extremely honored by the award and added “Thank you thank you thank you! never going sleep again.”
This is the first year that the Independent Spirit Awards included TV/streaming categories.
Based on Deborah Feldman’s 2012 memoir, “Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots,” the four-episode mini-series circulates around Haas’ character Esty Shapiro, who feels constrained by her strict religious upbringing in Brooklyn and the pressures of marriage, and eventually leaves for Berlin.
Haas has been nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her performance in the show.
Netflix’s “Immigration Nation,” a documentary series about the migrant crisis in the US that was co-directed and co-produced by Israeli filmmaker Shaul Schwarz, also took home a win, for Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series.
