Tel Aviv on Fire
(Tel Aviv on Fire)

The films that focus their attention on the still unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict are often taken to task for their pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian position. Given the situation, comedies are rare and risky even though Palestinian filmmakers frequently display a devastating sense of black humour. This popular genre was nonetheless the choice for Sameh Zoabi’s film. Born in the village of Iksal, near Nazareth, capital of northern
Israel but also of the State’s Arab citizens, Zoabi takes the conflict of viewpoints as his raw material. He plays on reversing them through a seemingly anecdotal script-writing device. The satire is set on the borders of Jerusalem, where Salam lives. Each day, he goes to work on the other side of the wall as a translator-coach on the shoot of a highly successful soap opera called Tel Aviv on Fire. He is far from imaging the absurd story his own life will become when, at the check point, he meets Assi, an Israeli army officer whose wife is a big fan of the TV programme… AR