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SYNOPSIS
Three young Israelis, two guys and a girl, share an apartment in Tel Aviv’s hippest neighborhood. Trying to put aside political conflicts and focusing on their lives and loves, these progressive 20-somethings are often accused of living in a sort of escapist bubble.
While on army reserve duty at a West Bank checkpoint, music store clerk Noam crosses paths
with Ashraf, a Palestinian guy. When they meet in Tel Aviv, no cultural taboo can hold back
their sexual attraction…
Headstrong Lulu, who works in a bath products boutique, gets furious when she’s blown off
by a sexy hunk after sleeping with him on the first date. Little does she know, Mr Right could
be right under her nose…
Yali, who manages a trendy café-restaurant, takes on more than he can handle when he
agrees to go out with a pushy guy whose provincial ways don’t meet up to his standards…
Noam and Ashraf fall in love, and the Israeli friends decide to help the Palestinian stay illegally in Tel Aviv. They arrange for Ashraf to wear less inconspicuous clothing, go by a Hebrew
name and work in Yali’s café. From a traditional upbringing, the young Palestinian is taken
by permissive city life and yearns to share his new love with hivs sister.
Dreaming of the day their beloved Tel Aviv will be free of political problems, the friends organize a beach rave against the occupation. But their good times soon meet up with more than
just disappointment and romantic entanglements. The friends must face the bitter truth
that love and friendship cannot withhold the harsh reality of the region’s on-going violence.
THE PLAYERS
Ohad Knoller (as Noam)
Ohad Knoller is perhaps best known to international audiences for his role as Yossi in Eytan Fox’s 2002
film YOSSI & JAGGER. The performance won him the Best Actor prize at the Tribeca Film Festival. An accomplished theater actor, Knoller made his screen debut in Eli Cohen’s 1994 film UNDER THE DOMIM
TREE. He has also appeared in the IsraeliTV series «Ahava Ze Koev», «Epidural» and «Knafayim». He will
soon be seen in Joseph Cedar’s feature film BEAUFORT.
Yousef‘Joe’ Sweid (as Ashraf)
Arabic Israeli actorYousef Sweid made his feature film debut in Eytan Fox’sWALK ONWATER. Sweid currently stars in the Israeli soap opera“Ha’Alufa,”which has made him a household name. He also enjoyed
theater acclaim in writer-director Yael Ronen’s «Plonter (Mess)», about Palestinian life in occupied territories, presented to great success inTel Aviv and abroad.
Daniela Wircer (as Lulu)
Daniela Wircer had to postpone her military service until she finished shooting her breakthrough performance in the 2001 Israeli soap opera «Lechayey Ha’Ahava». She recently appeared in the dramaticTV
series «Elvis, Rosental,Vehaisha Hamistorit». Eytan Fox’sTHE BUBBLE is her feature film debut.
Alon Friedmann (as Yali)
Alon Friedmann won the Israeli theater world’s“Most Promising Newcomer”award for his role as young
writer Aaron in Yvegeny Arye’s «Shosha», adapted from Isaac Bashevis-Singer. He has also appeared in
the hitTV series «Ima’lle». Eytan Fox’sTHE BUBBLE is his feature film debut.
WORLD SALES
Scalpel – Pierre Menahem
38 rue de la Chine, Paris 75020, France
T +331 4366 4030 – F +331 4366 8600
Mobile 336 6208 8179
[email protected]
INTERNATIONAL PRESS
World Cinema Publicity – Richard Lormand
www.filmpressplus.com
[email protected]
In Toronto +1-337-258-3957
CAST
Noam
Ashraf
Lulu
Yali
Shaul (Lulu’s Admirer)
Golan (Yali’s Admirer)
Sharon (Time Out Editor)
Rana (Ashraf’s Sister)
Jihad (Rana’s Fiancé)
Actor in“Bent”
Actor in“Bent”
Ohad Knoller
Yousef“Joe” Sweid
Daniela Wircer
Alon Friedmann
Zion Baruch
Zohar Liba
Oded Leopold
Ruba Blal
Shredy Jabarin
Lior Ashkenazi
Yossi Marshak
CREW
Directed by
Written by
Director of Photography
Editor
Original Music by
Sound Designer
Costume Designer
Production Designer
Produced by
Executive Producers
Eytan Fox
Gal Uchovsky & Eytan Fox
Yaron Scharf
Yosef Grunfeld, Yaniv Raiz
Ivri Lider
Gil Toren
Ido Dolev
Oren Dar
Gavl Uchovsky
Ronen Ben Tal
Amir Feingold
Moshe Edry
Leon Edry
David Silber
Micky Rabinovitch
Featuring songs by Ivri Lider (“The Man I Love”,“ Song to a Siren”), Bright Eyes (“First Day of My Life”), Belle & Sebastian (“Women’s Realm”),
Keren Ann (“Chelsea Burns”, “Sit in the Sun”), Lloyd Cole (“Music in a Foreign Language”, “On My Other Life”), Nada Surf (“Always Love”),
Tom McRae (“Second Law”), Le Tigre (“On the Verge”), Bebel Gilberto (“All Around”, “Cada Beijo”, “Aganju”), Acid House Kings (“Tonight is
Forever”), Antiquex – Ran Shani (“Day Out”,“Close toYou”), Palestinian Radio andTelevision Orchestra (“Yahala”’).
PRODUCTION
Gal Uchovsky
[email protected]
www.thebubble.msn.co.il
INTERVIEW
TEL AVIV’S BUBBLE
Eytan Fox: The bubble is a term used by Israelis to describe life inTel Aviv
in general.The young people in the film live in a particular neighborhood
in downtownTel Aviv, and work on its main thoroughfare, the trendy and
alternative Shenkin Street.We, too, live and work in that area.
Gal Uchovsky: It’s a physical and mental thing. The Shenkin area has a
mixed population. Religious people, secular, old, young, families, etc. A
lot of the creative forces of Israel live there, in a very small area, so it has
become kind of an artistic green house. It’s also an area filled with cafés
and shops. So it’s very vibrant. And of course many young Israelis dream
to move there when the time comes. So for us it’s home but also a state
of mind.
A SURVIVAL MECHANISM
Gal: If you are young and you want to live like your peers in New York,
London and Paris, you have to isolate yourself from the harsh reality of
the Middle East. That’s what Tel Aviv is all about. The problem is that life
is stronger than the free will of individuals and you can’t really run away.
Also, I think all people live in bubbles. Everybody thinks their little neighborhood is the world.
Eytan: People who use the term“bubble”critically are judgmental of the
lifestyle and choices made by many Tel Avivians. It is true that many people in Tel Aviv have consciously disconnected themselves from regional
realities they feel are unbearable. These people are sometimes regarded
by other Israelis as superficial and/or irresponsible. We, of course, do not
see these people this way, but see their creation of a“bubble”as a survival
mechanism.
WE LOVE TEL AVIV
Gal: Tel Aviv is a very cool place. I think most people around the world,
who learn about Israel from CNN will be surprised to learn that in the center of all that craziness there is a place that’s easy going, fun, friendly and
very much like big cities in Europe and the US.
Eytan: We love Tel Aviv, and THE BUBBLE is to some extent a love song
to the city. Tel Aviv is a socially and culturally vibrant city, and is the only
truly liberal and progressive place to live in Israel. In the middle of the current war, the bubble-like aspect of Tel Aviv is being criticized even more
strongly: in war, there is no room for bubbles. We do not agree with this
criticism, as many people in Tel Aviv will have to be active participants in
this war, but only people from places like Tel Aviv will ask difficult questions about this war, write about it, demonstrate against it, and make
movies about it.
GAY AND LESBIAN LIFE IN ISRAEL
Eytan: Tel Aviv has amazingly become one of the world’s most hospitable havens for homosexuals in the world.This wasn’t always the case, and
we believe this is a reaction to previous years of oppression of minorities
in this area.
Gal: Israel, in general, is very tolerant towards gays. I think the main
reason is that we are war stricken. In a country where young people die a
lot, whether in the army, from bombs, etc, parents value life differently. So
when your kid comes out it’s not really the end of the world. He is still alive.
Also, a lot of work has been done by a lot of people.We are proud to be out
and big advocators for that for many years.
We have people out and open everywhere. Ivri Lider who wrote the score
for the movie and sings in it «The Man I Love» is Israel’s biggest rock star.
He is out and very vocal.We have Dana International who changed public
views on transgenders and a couple of lesbian singers. We
have TV presenters, politicians.
Eytan: This revolution happened relatively quickly and was quite extreme. Prime time TV shows with gay characters (my series“Florentine”was
one of them), gay pop stars like Dana and Ivri , and even openly
gay members of Knesset (government).
Gal: The revolution started in the 80’s but it escalated mainly in the late
90’s with a huge visibility on prime time television. It happened very fast
and in a big way, and Israeli public opinion tends to change very drastically. And in this case it did and for the good.
HUMOR AND PATHOS
ROMANCE BETWEEN ISRAELIS AND
PALESTINIANS
Eytan: The film and life in Tel Aviv shifts back and forth between hope
and despair. Sometimes we believe our way of life can make a difference, and the love and progressive ways of thinking and behaving that we
so enthusiastically have adopted will conquer all. And other times there
is a feeling that the situation is hopeless, that we are surrounded by too
many people who disagree with us, and, as Noam says at the end of the
film,“will never understand.”
Gal: I’m a big optimist. I think that the fact that this movie exists is an
optimistic thing. Also the fact that it has been a hit in Israel, very popular
with young people, that’s also a reason for optimism. There’s a terrible
war going on right now, but you must believe that the future will be
better. If not, why bother living here?
Eytan: It’s tragic that young men and women have to engage in war
instead of engaging in life and love. However the fact that these people
insist on trying and still believe in love and change is a source of great
hope.
Gal: THE BUBBLE is tragic in the Romeo & Juliet kind of way.The tragedy
was there from the start. It’s foreseeable, but then when you come out
of the movie, hopefully you don’t just remember how tragic the ending
was, but how beautiful and happy they were before and both notions
stay with you.
Eytan: There have been some stories of romantic connections between
Israelis and Palestinians, but sadly, most of these relationships do not
survive.
Gal: It’s very difficult as Palestinian society is not really open to gays yet.
It’s already complicated to be gay there, even more so to sleep with the
enemy. For heterosexual couples, it’s not much better with actual Palestinians from the West Bank. It’s more common for Palestinians who live in
Israel, the people we use to call «Israeli Arabs».
RAVE AGAINST THE OCCUPATION
Gal: I wouldn’t describe the characters as really pro-active. Unfortunately
they are usually active in quite a childish manner. Living in a war zone
makes you a little numb. You have to become detached in order to survive. The rave against the occupation, which really happened, is a good
example to a protest that on one hand is genuine and true but on the
other hand is pretty childish.
Eytan: Most young Israelis and more specifically, most Tel Avivians are
more progressive than most Palestinians as far as social and sexual issues
go. Sadly enough this progressiveness does not always affect the way these Israelis understand their relationship with their Palestinian neighbors.
BORDER CHECKPOINTS
Eytan: In recent years many young Israelis do their army service or their
reserve duty (like Noam inTHE BUBBLE) at checkpoints on theWest Bank.
For most Israelis, these checkpoints are the only places they will actually
encounter Palestinians. These are terrible places where the results of war
and occupation are evident.
Gal: Checkpoints in some way have become the symbol of the occupation. On one hand these are the places where Palestinians are humiliated
on a very personal level. These are the places that make their lives most
miserable in a very visible way. But the Israeli army insists that they are
necessary to stop suicide bombers, etc.
So these places have become a battlefield. There are the wonderful
women of Machshom-Watch (Checkpoint Watch) who go to all the big
checkpoints on a daily basis to see that soldiers are kind to the Palestinians
and there are all the settlers who come and scream at these women.
Eytan: Our life in Tel Aviv is about many moments of humor and fun
that can be understood also as an extreme reaction to the harsh realities
of living with ongoing war. That is exactly the feeling we wanted to recreate inTHE BUBBLE.
Gal: I think that every movie must have some good jokes in it. Even if
it’s the most serious movie. In THE BUBBLE, the jokes are there because
that’s how the lives of these people are. And yes, jokes in a war zone are
sometimes not that funny.
HOPE AND DESPAIR
CONTROVERSY
Eytan: The film has created lots of commotion in Israel. Not left wing
enough, too left wing, too gay, not gay enough. It got people talking.
Numerous articles have been published about the film.
Gal: Articles regarding topics from the movie: keep appearing in the
media. from «Does a bubble really exivst?» to «Are Jewish-Palestinian
couples the new trend?». The use of the term «The Bubble» is everywhere.
Eytan: The audience up until now has been mainly one of younger
people who have been flowing to the theaters, making THE BUBBLE
the only Israeli film to succeed commercially in Israel in the last year.
Many theater owners describe situations where groups of viewers stay
at the entrance to the theater, not wanting or willing to leave, talking
and arguing about the film.This success is particularly interesting considering the fact that there is a war going on, and people are frightened
to leave their homes. It is important for us that young people in Israel are
confronting the issues raised by the film, and are embracing its ideas.
THE FILM MAKERS
EYTAN FOX (Director-Writer)
Eytan Fox’s 2004 filmWALK ONWATER has become the most successful Israeli film abroad.The story of a Mossad secret service agent who befriends
the gay grandson of an ex-Nazi officer was released successfully in over 25 countries. Previously, 2002’sYOSSI & JAGGER, the love affair between two
officers in the Israeli army, became an international breakout hit. BothWALK ONWATER andYOSSI & JAGGER have achieved cult status on DVD.
Born in New York City, at an early age Fox moved with his family to Israel. He grew up in Jerusalem, then studied at Tel Aviv University’s School of
Film andTelevision. His first film,TIME OFF, a 45-minute drama about sexual identity in the Israeli army, won him acclaim and led to the making his
first feature, SONG OFTHE SIREN, a romantic comedy which became Israel’s biggest box office success in 1994.
Between 1997 and 2000, Fox created and directed the IsraeliTV dramatic series
FLORENTINE, which examined the life of young people inTel Aviv before and after the Rabin assassination.
GAL UCHOVSKY (Writer-Producer)
Since the 1997 musical short, GOTTA HAVE HEART, writer-producer Gal Uchovsky has continued a successful artistic collaboration with writer-director Eytan Fox. They share writing credit on bothTHE BUBBLE andWALK ONWATER, and Uchovsky has been a producer on Fox’s last three features,
includingYOSSI & JAGGER.
A leading commentator on Israeli arts and culture, Uchovsky writes a weekly column for «Tel Aviv Time Out», as well as rock music reviews. He is
currently having lots of fun as a judge on the 2006 season of Israel’s «Pop Idol».
Uchovsky has proven to be one of the most influential gay men in Israel. For over 20 years, he has been a vocal advocate of gay rights. As a journalist,
he has often written or spoken about gay issues, making him a role model for many young people.
Gal Uchovsky and Eytan Fox live in Tel Aviv. They recently celebrated their 18th anniversary together.
FILMOGRAPHY
2006
2004
2002
1997
1994
1990
THE BUBBLE (dir. Eytan Fox)
written by Eytan Fox and Gal Uchovsky, produced by Gal Uchovsky
WALK ON WATER (dir. Eytan Fox)
written by Eytan Fox and Gal Uchovsky, produced by Gal Uchovsky
YOSSI & JAGGER (dir. Eytan Fox)
produced by Gal Uchovsky
GOTTA HAVE HEART (dir. Eytan Fox)
musical short written by Gal Uchovsky
SONG OF THE SIREN (dir. Eytan Fox)
TIME OFF (dir. Eytan Fox) - short