Strangers ("Zarim")

Directors: Guy Nattiv and Erez Tadmor
Starring: Leron Levo, Lubna Azabal
Year: 2007

6 days in the lives of Eyal , an Israeli living in a kibbutz, and Rana, a Palestinian living in Paris, which starts with an accidental meeting in the Berlin Subway during the World cup finals, will change them completely. Eyal, who came to meet his accidental girlfriend, and Rana who came to cheer the French team, are forced to share as apartment and spend three intensive days together. As the final match approaches, their relationship tightens and they fall in love. Towards the final game, Rana is forced to leave Eyal who remains in Berlin on his own. Things get complicated as the Israel-Lebanon war breaks, and Eyal full of hope, decides to search for Rana, in spite of it all. An intimate encounter of two strangers in a strange city during World Cup and the second Israel-Lebanon war. A Story that touch's the profound wounds, created by years of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, of a young generation asking to reconnect and even reconcile.

Comments: The most interesting part of the movie is how it was made. The directors had no script, only a general outline of a plot. The actors first actual meeting was during the first take on the first day of shooting. At the start of each day of shooting, the actors were separately given bits of background on the characters, which they worked into the dialogue for that day's shooting. The two lead actors actually had a relationship offscreen -- which was evident from their obvious chemistry on screen. Shown at the 2008 Boston Jewish Film Festival.

Recommended.