Dancing Arabs

Dancing Arabs tells the story of Eyad, a Palestinian-Israeli boy from the town of Tira whose parents send to a prestigious Jewish boarding school in Jerusalem. At school he finds himself struggling with issues of language, culture, and identity – trying to survive and to find his way in a place where war constantly rages around him. Feeling foreign and alienated, Eyad realizes that in order to be accepted as an equal, in order to allay people’s suspicions, in order to work, to love, and, above all, to belong – he has to make personal sacrifices.

As we have come to expect of Riklis and Kashua, the film examines with both acumen and empathy the complex texture of relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel, the influence of regional events on the lives of the people there, and the journey of one young man looking for a way to break out of all the boundaries that await him in life. All this is served up with subtle humor and irony, guiding the viewer through the ins and outs of the moving story while at the same time providing a poignant real-life experience.

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Cast:

Eyad : Tawfeek Barhum
Edna: Yael Abecassis
Yonatan: Michael Moshonov
Salah: Ali Suliman
Naomi: Danielle Kitzis
Grandmother Aisha: Marlene Bajali
Fahima: Laëtitia Eïdo
Eyad (Boy): Razi Gabareen
Principal Jamal: Norman Issa
Bassem: Khalifa Natour
Wassim: Kais Nashef
Wajdi: Loai Nofi
School Principal: Rona Lipaz-Michael
Literature Teacher: Shirili Deshe
History Teacher: Keren Tzur

Director: Eran Riklis
Screenwriter: Sayed Kashua  (Based on his book)

Producers: Chilik Michaeli, Michael Eckelt, Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre,  Avraham Pirchi, Tami Leon, Bettina Brokemper
Associate Producers:  Moshe Edery, Leon Edery, Simon Ofenloch

Director of Photography: Michael Wiesweg
Editor: Richard Marizy
Production Designer: Yoel Herzberg

Original Score: Yonatan Riklis
Costume Designer: Hamada Atallah
Make-up and hair: Ziv Katanov

Casting: Yael Aviv
Sound Recordist: Rolf Manzei
Sound Designer: Gil Toren

Sound Mixer: Herve Buirette
Line Producer: Karen Belz
1st Assistant Director: Doron Ofer

Line Producer (Germany): Christian Vennefrohne
Produced by:  U.C.M. United Channels Movies, Mact Productions, Riva Filmproduktion, Heimatfilm,  Alma Film Production

Supported by: The Israel Film Fund, Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée
An Israeli, French & German Production

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