 Dancing Arabs Feature film: 100 mn Genre: Contemporary Drama Screenplay by: Sayed Kashua, adapted from his own novel Directed by: Katia Lund Language: Hebrew / Arabic Location: Israel Producers: Denise O’Dell / KanZaman; Avraham Pirchi / UCM; Lucette Legot / KanZaman Coproduction: France / Israel / Spain Budget: 3,5 M€ PITCH A uniquely human portrayal of a young man who moves between two societies, becoming a stranger to both. With a grandfather who died fighting the Zionists in 1948, and a father who was jailed for blowing up a school cafeteria in the name of freedom, Sayed is granted a scholarship to an elite Jewish boarding school in Jerusalem, his family rejoices, dreaming that he will grow up to be the first Arab to build an atom bomb. But seeing the advantages of being Israeli and not Arab, his only ambition is to fit in. He changes his clothes, his accent, his eating habits, and becomes an expert at faking identities, sliding between different cultures, schools and languages. With refreshing candour and self-deprecating wit, Dancing Arabs brilliantly maps one man's struggle to disentangle his personal and national identities. THE CHARACTERS Sayed at different ages : as a child, as a teenager and as a young man Darwish, his father Khalima, his mother Kamla, his grandmother Jonathan, his Jewish friend Edna, Jonathan’s mother Naomi, his Jewish girlfriend DIRECTOR'S NOTE Issues of multi-culturalism and identity seem to be at the crux of my life and work. From a very early age, I have wondered, what if I were someone other than myself? Growing up bi-cultural in Brazil probably sparked these questions, which are not mine alone, but have driven me as a filmmaker. When I first met Sayed Kashua and read his books, I felt that to work with his voice would be an incredible privilege.. With humor and humanity, Sayed tells his personal story as an Arab-Israeli and exposes the fractures of identity in a childhood and adolescence where borders are increasingly confused and tested. His cruel honesty and irony make me want to smile while puncturing my heart and mind. I can’t wait to dive into this world and make the movie. KATIA LUND  Kátia Lund (b. 1966 in São Paulo) is an American-Brazilian film director and screenwriter. Her most notable work was as co-director of the film City of God. Lund's parents are Americans who emigrated to Brazil before she was born. She graduated from Escola Maria Imaculada, an American Catholic school in São Paulo where she excelled in art. She then attended Brown University where she became interested in filmmaking. After she graduated magna cum laude, she landed jobs as an assistant director on many music videos, commercials and films. Having grown up in a middle-class family, she had little knowledge of the plight of those living in Rio de Janeiro's favelas. Then, she was hired to work on the Spike Lee-directed music video for Michael Jackson's "They Don't Care About Us" which was filmed in a favela. The experience opened her eyes and she became determined to make films about the dwellers of these poor neighborhoods to help raise social consciousness in Brazil. In 1996, she began work on the documentary Notícias de uma Guerra Particular (News of a Private War), an exploration of the ongoing battle between the favelas' heavily armed drug dealers (many of whom are small children) and Rio de Janeiro's police. It was released in 1999 to critical acclaim and was nominated for an Emmy after airing on PBS. The success of the film made her an in-demand director of music videos for Brazil's hip-hop artists. She won numerous MTV Video Music Awards Latin America. In 2001, Lund co-directed with Fernando Meirelles Golden Gate (Palace II), a short film about two young boys in a favela. The film won several awards in film festivals all over the world. Lund and Meirelles continued their collaboration with the film City of God which received international acclaim and was nominated for four Academy Awards. The success of that film was the springboard for the television series City of Men, a continuation of the story told in Golden Gate. Lund produced the show with Meirelles and directed four episodes. The show was a major hit in Brazil. Lund oversees an organization called Nós do Cinema (We of Cinema), which began with the young people from the cast of City of God who are real dwellers of Rio’s favelas. Nós do Cinema offers courses and job opportunities in films to poor children and holds screenings and discussions that help to raise social consciousness through film. She also directed a segment of the film All the Invisible Children. SAYED KASHUA Sayed Kashua was born in Tira in the Triangle region of Israel. In 1990, he was accepted to a prestigious boarding school in Jerusalem. He studied sociology and philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Kashua lives with his wife and 2 children in Jerusalem.  Kashua writes satiric columns in Hebrew for Haaretz newspaper and a local Jerusalem weekly, HaIr. In a humorous, tongue-in-cheek style, Kashua addresses the problems faced by Arabs in Israel, caught between two worlds.While Kashua's two books - Dancing Arabs (2002) & Let it be Morning (2006) - have been praised by the Israeli press they have not been well-received by literary critics in the Arab world. Avoda Aravit (Arab Labor), a satiric sitcom written by Kashua is broadcast on Israel television. A large part of the dialogue is in Arabic, with Hebrew subtitles. The show is about a young Arab couple, Amjad and Bushra, and their young daughter, who live in an Arab village on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Amjad is a journalist working for a Hebrew newspaper (much like Haaretz) who desperately seeks to assimilate into the prevailing Israeli Jewish cultural milieu with mixed and hilarious results. The show holds a mirror up to the racism and ignorance on both sides of the ethnic divide and has been compared with All in the Family. |
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