Tel Aviv on Fire:  A Screenwriter’s Screenwriter

I miss the films of Francois Truffaut. My first was Shoot the Piano Player (1960), but definitely his Day for Night (1973) whose title refers to a filming technique using filters and exposure games to be able to force a scene to look like night scene even though it is filmed in daylight. The film within the film was called Meet Pamela.

Tel Aviv on Fire is the title of this film, but also the title of the portrayed fictional television series Tel Aviv on Fire. Watching Tel Aviv on Fire, I was reminded of Truffaut and Day for Night: both movies chronicling the foibles of movie production, the actors, and their egos.

In 2012 I became hooked on the Israeli television series Avoda Aravit (Arab Labor in US Release), writer Sayed Kashua’s comedic television series take on Israelis and Palestinians living and working in close company and the competing aspirations, just normal issues: family, work, love, career promotion. And here’s my insight:  Zoabi’s Tel Aviv on Fire is reminiscent of Truffaut’s Day for Night and Kashua’s Avoda Aravit.

The main character is Salam (Kaais Nashif), who gets a career break as a writer for a soap opera television series. He must travel to Jerusalem for the series filming – which necessitates the inconvenience of crossing the security border twice a day. Asked by border security Captain Assi the purpose of his travel, he explains that he is the writer for the popular TV show. The title Tel Aviv on Fire is a bit suspicious, so he provides a copy of the script to prove he was a writer.

This charade becomes a repeated exercise at security, as the security officer gets to influence the direction of then script and Salam’s family tries to influence the TV plots. In a noble nod to coexistence, the Arab and Israeli soldier tune the scripts.

We in the US need to see more films of this caliber – and subject matter. Go see this film.