This film is a multi-faceted, multi-layered take on Israel sixty year after independence.

The film is structured around four political-satirical acts. In addition, especially composed music turns the Israeli Declaration of Independence into a musical performance and new poetry rewriting the national anthem transforms it into an inclusive rallying call. These elements are interspersed with unique archival material, dramatic situations, and revealing statements by a variety of people, all related to the current state of suspension of a morally jeopardized Israel.

The four-minute opening scene reworks the Israeli Declaration of Independence into a music video-like cinematic segment. The split screen juxtaposes this hopeful music with the harsh reality, as well as presenting the major participants of the film. This scene thus encompasses the entire thematic of the film in a nutshell.

Yossi & Itamar, two bold Israeli comedians, perform satirical interactions with people on the street. These go straight to the heart of the Israeli psyche. For example, posing as “Patriotism Inspectors” on behalf of the (fictitious) “Public Security Office,” they interrogate passers-by in the greater Tel Aviv area to check if they have served in the army; masquerading as state officials they ask Jewish and Arab Israelis to apologize for the harming of innocent civilians on both sides of the conflict; pretending to produce a calendar for the Armored Corps museum they convince people to enact scenes from Israel’s many wars; their final act is about a future bi-national state that will replace Israel - Israeli Jews and Arabs are asked to redesign the flag, come up with a new name for the new state, think who would be the new state’s new enemy, and who would the state discriminate against once the Arabs get equal rights.

These acts alternate with scenes composed of archival material, situations and interviews. An example is the eye-opening visit to the 600-strong Jewish settlement in the centre of Hebron where a Peace Now “settlement watcher” encounters a messianic-singing-settler, burnt-out shops in empty streets, and a gun - and video camera - carrying settler. Other scenes are based on the candid and at times fiery conversations among articulate 18-year olds who lay out the pros and cons of enlisting into the army – deciding between high social status and jail. The film ends on the singing of an alternative national anthem.

For licensing and more information please contact:

Björn Jensen

email: jensen(at)gingerfoot.de

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