The Story

“A witty and warm-hearted look at a divided land.” - The Hollywood Reporter

A slacker sliding into middle age with little to show for it, Salam lands a production-assistant gig on Tel Aviv on Fire, a popular Palestinian evening soap opera. As Salam’s prospects rise, he has a fateful encounter with Assi, an Israeli military officer at the Ramallah checkpoint. During his interrogation of Salam, Assi sees an opportunity to influence the show, which in his mind is far too unflattering to its Israeli characters. Salam has just begun life as a writer and he’s already forced to compromise his integrity — while the entire country watches flabbergasted. Affectionately lampooning stereotypical attitudes about both sides of the conflict, this ingenious satire exudes a deadpan audacity that’s hard to resist, while Salam’s outwardly unflappable everyman character grounds this battle of ideologies in comic pragmatism.

Language: Hebrew, Arabic (English subtitles)

Rating

E

Duration

Cast

Kais Nashif, Lubna Azabal, Yaniv Biton

Director

Sameh Zoabi