Israeli director Nadaf Lapid returned to the Cannes this year through self -search work Yes ((Ken), Which plays in two weeks.
In the wake of the October 7 attacks on Israel, the film participated in the stars Ariel Bruns and Evat, the role of Kembe, a struggling y and his partner dancer, Yasmine, who sold their art, their lives, and their bodies to the highest bid.
They are moving in control of the shock of the country, as it alerts the increasing news of the death toll in Gaza. When a committee is shown to write a song in praise of the military campaign for Israel in Gaza, it faces reality.
“I started writing the script before October 7,” Lapid said to the deadline studio. “The starting point was writing about two artists who became clowns and even a kind of prostitutes at Israeli parties, and talking about the weakness of the artist today who no longer have the ability to say” no “, only” yes “… and in the way of death of art.”
“October 7 happened. Of course I was shocked, but this made me realize that as an Israeli director before I talked about the death of art, I needed to talk about death, because suddenly, the death of artists, the death of art was replaced by people who die everywhere.
The film was produced by Labid’s collaborators, Judith Le Levi, in Les Films du Bal, and Hugo Sélignac & Antoine Lafon at Chi-Fou-Mi Productions.
Participated producers are Thomas Alfandari in Bustan Films (Israel); Janine Teerling and Marios Piperides at Amp Filmworks (Cyprus), in addition to Janine Jacovsky, Jonas Dumbach and Marin Adi in Komplizen (Germany) as well as Art France Cinéma, with the participation of ZDF/ARTE. Les Films Du Losang deals with international sales and French version.
The film was mainly filmed in Israel, starting from Tel Aviv and then heading south near the October 7 attack sites – where 1,200 people were killed and 251 others took hostages, and in full view of Gaza, where at least 53,000 people died in Israel’s military operation.
“We were shooting during the war, including three or four days, when we were shooting near the border with Gaza. As in the movie, we were approaching more and more, every day on the border like one kilometer, 700 meters, 600 meters … on the last day we were on the hill, which is titled Love Hill in the movie, and in real life.”
“We were shooting at the scene with the spouses, but behind them the war was. There was endless smoke from Gaza, endless, dozens, thousands of missile sounds, from the artillery coming from Gaza. I asked myself about the number of people who died from any of the people. From life to death.
Lapid, who exchanged his hometown of Israel for life in France a decade ago, admits that filming was a sweet process and bitter.
“We are used to that, we are all, in an attempt to overcome the contradictions, but the truth, the truth is exactly in this contradiction. It is a love message to a place that has become impossible, and we will be stained to subscribe that I do not consider what the years you are doing at the present time, however, as I was wandering in the streets of Tel the ends of the bike on my bike, in search of places for photography, I looked at every corner.
Speaking of the decision to show the film at the Cannes Festival, against the backdrop of the worsening situation in Gaza, Lapid says he is right with him.
He said: “The movie started as a lot of things, with many types. It is a music movie, a political movie, a movie about love and a movie on the city, and in some way, it ends as a documentary film almost. When you look at the news, you see real scenes from the movie.”
“When I was making this movie … it raised a lot of fear. In a strange way, the film became a kind of tool to distinguish between courage and fear, but I think the things that are said in the movie that look more extreme is too extreme.”
