Bourekas films (Hebrew: סרטי בורקס) were a genre of Israeli-made movies popular in Israel in the 1960s and 1970s.

Haaretz film critic Uri Klein describes Bourekas films as a "peculiarly Israeli genre of comic melodramas or tearjerkers... based on ethnic stereotypes."^[1] They were "home-grown farces and melodramas that provided escapist entertainment during a tense period in Israeli history."^[2]

The term is said to have been coined by the Israeli film director Boaz Davidson, the creator of several such films, as a play-on-words on the "spaghetti western" genre, known as such because that particular Western sub-genre was produced in Italy. Bourekas is a notable dish from Israeli cuisine.

The main theme in most Bourekas films was the conflict between ethnic cultures in Israel, in particular between the Mizrahi Jews and the Ashkenazi Jews. The hero was usually a Mizrahi Jew, almost always poor, canny and with street smarts, who came into conflict with the institutions of the state or figures of Ashkenazi origin - mostly portrayed as rich, conceited, arrogant, cold-hearted and alienated.

In many of these films, actors imitate different Hebrew accents, especially that of Jews originating from Morocco, Persia and Poland. They employ slapstick humour, alternate identities and a combination of comedy and melodrama.

In a paper entitled "A Shtetl in Disguise: Israeli Bourekas Films and their Origins in Classical Yiddish Literature," Rami Kimchi claims that the portrayal of Israeli Mizrahi communities in these films bears a strong resemblance to the portrayal of the 19th century East European shtetl by classic Yiddish writers. ^[3]

Bourekas films were highly successful in Israel during in 1960s and 1970s, but were also criticized for being shallow. Some of the main actors and directors were:

• Ze'ev Revach - an actor and director who participated in many popular Bourekas film comedies such as Hagiga B'Snuker (1975), Charlie Ve'hetzi (1974), Rak Hayom (1976), Gonev Miganav Patoor (1977), Ta'ut Bamispar (1979), Ha-Muvtal Batito (1987), Lo La'alot Yoter (1979), Sapar Nashim (1984), Pa'amaim Buskila (1998), and more. Revach eventually became the person which is most identified with the Bourekas films and continued to create those films until the end of the 1980s.
• George Obadiah - a director who created many melodramas which were influenced (and at times copied) from the Turkish cinema. The most prominent of his films are : Ariana (1971), Nurit (1972), Sarit (1974), Na'arat haparvarim (1979), and more. Obadiah created also comedies like Nahtche V'Hageneral (1972), Fishke Bemilu'im (1971) and Koreyim Li Shmil (1973).
• Yehuda Barkan - an actor and director who participated in many Bourekas films such as Lupo (1970) and Lupo B'New York (1976), Katz V'Carasso (1971), Charlie Ve'hetzi (1974), Hagiga B'Snuker (1975), Bo Nefotzetz Million (1977) and more. Barkan also played in the 1980s Abba Ganuv film series and directed them.
• Boaz Davidson - a director of many Bourekas film comedies such as Charlie Ve'hetzi (1974), Hagiga B'Snuker (1975), Mishpahat Tzan'ani (1976), and Lupo B'New York (1976). His films Charlie Ve'hetzi and Hagiga B'Snuker had a 'revival' in the 1990s and a status of Israeli cult film status.
• Joseph Shiloach - Played in several Bourekas film comedies, in parallel with a set of dramatic and more serious roles he played in a variety of Hollywood films. A character which is identified with him in particular is "the Persian" - a somewhat sensual grotesque who possesses a strong Persian accent.
• Tuvia Tzafir - Played in several Bourekas films, particularly in the role of the grotesque "Ashkenazi" character.

Several prominent Bourekas films were Kazablan (1974) (a story of a young Mizrahi man who falls in love with an Ashkenazi girl, starring Yehoram Gaon), Salomonico (1972) and Yi'ihiyeh Tov Salmonico (1975) (with Reuven Bar-Yotam), Ha-Shehuna Shelanu (1968), Ha-Meshahnei'a Ba'am (1973), and Haham Gamliel (1973).

At the end of the 1970s, the popularity of the Bourekas film declined. In the 1980s, Israeli films became more politically-charged and began to address controversial topics. Nowadays many of the Bourekas films have gained cult status in Israel.