Israel/Palestine, today. Salam, a charming 30-year-old Palestinian living in Jerusalem, works as a trainee on the popular Palestinian soap opera “Tel Aviv on Fire,” produced in Ramallah. Every day, to reach the TV studios, Salam has to go through a rather difficult Israeli checkpoint. There he meets the commander of the checkpoint, Assi, whose wife is a big fan of the soap opera. In order to please his wife, Assi pressures Salam to give the show a happy ending, trading the intifada for a wedding. Needless to say, complications ensue.
“[A] sharp-eyed, good-natured film…” — A.O. Scott, New York Times
““[A] delicious investigation of the tightrope [Salam] walks between the Israeli army and his Palestinian colleagues as well as his dilemma of needing to write and not knowing the first thing about it.” — Kenneth Turan, L.A. Times
“In offering a comedic take on not just the hostility between Israelis and Palestinians, but also the shared history and culture that bind them, Tel Aviv on Fire is an enjoyable respite from the bleakness that is far more typical of their stories.” — Vanessa H. Larson, Washington Post
directed by
Sameh Zoabi
Sameh Zoabi
written by
Dan Kleinman, Sameh Zoabi
Dan Kleinman, Sameh Zoabi
with
Kais Nashif, Lubna Azabal, Yaniv Biton, Maisa Abd Elhadi
Kais Nashif, Lubna Azabal, Yaniv Biton, Maisa Abd Elhadi
language
Arabic, Hebrew
Arabic, Hebrew
country
Luxembourg, Belgium, Israel, France
Luxembourg, Belgium, Israel, France
production company
Cohen Media Group
Cohen Media Group