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1.
The theme of the director’s visit to this film is the prohibition of Middle Eastern countries: about a Palestinian psychology student Nimr (Nicholas Jacob) and Israel The forbidden love of lawyer Roy (Michael Aloni).
At the beginning of the movie, the story starts with the complicated and tense political relationship between Israel and Palestine. It also filmed the cultural differences between the two countries to show the audience, including how comrades are treated in the two countries.
Gradually, the story will focus on Nimr. He began to struggle almost madly between "faithfully face his new Jewish boyfriend" and "obey the rules of the Muslim family". In addition, facing his brother who had joined in extreme terrorism and cruelly treated Israelis, it made him unable to do so. catch my breath. In addition, he is also deeply afraid of staying in a social state that cannot accept him. At the same time, Nimr's nationality also made him targeted. Even Roy's parents are not optimistic about their love, which can be clearly seen from the dinner party that day.
Here are some Q&As faced by director Michael Mayer, please see:
Question: Forbidden love has always been a hot topic, but you filmed about Israeli and Palestinian men falling in love, and unfortunately were involved in endless conflicts in the Middle East. swirl. So how serious is this forbidden love in Israel today?
MM: Even though Israel is much more open today, especially in the gay community, love relationships like this are still considered taboo and rare. Not just two men, even heterosexuals are equally unacceptable.
Question: The film also touches on the real issue of immigrants and gays being expelled by the state. Is this a common occurrence in Israel? And will you make an official statement for the role of Mustafa (the cross-dressed man shot)?
MM: Immigration is a complex issue, especially in areas with constant conflict. Some homeless Palestinians will be accepted by Israel. Israel will prepare temporary residence or prepare work for them, but this is not common. A few years ago, the BBC calculated that there were about 300 Palestinian comrades hiding in Israel. This is not a common occurrence. Deportations will still happen. If the Palestinian people are close to the border, gay people will be treated mercilessly. Unfortunately, a situation like Mustafa still exists.
Question: The story begins with tension and continues to the end. What you and Yael Shafrir wrote is an excellent, suspenseful, and terrifying script. Of course, it also includes heartwarming and romantic elements. What is the origin of this script? And how does it feel to get so many good reviews at the Gay Film Festival?
MM: A few years ago, I had dinner with a friend who volunteered at the LGBT center in Tel Aviv. He told me about their support for Palestinian comrades, which quickly ignited my curiosity. Their plan is to let the Israeli and Palestinian people break the conflict and help each other, not for the sake of politics, but to maintain their own sexuality. This really shocked me. My partner screenwriter Yael and I began to research the subject, and spent several months in Israel to understand the conflict between the two peoples and the gay communities in the two countries. The more we studied, the more things we felt to write, until finally we decided to write the script of "Out In The Dark".
The film festival is incredible. Our world premiere was at the Toronto Int'l Film Festival in September 2012, after which we also participated in more than 50 other film festivals. We also won the LGBT Film Festival in London the Best Film Award in the LGBT category.
Question: How did Israelis and Palestinians react to this movie?
MM: Our Israeli premiere will be at the Haifa Int'l Film Festival, where we won the best Israeli film award. Since then, we have received support from the cinema, and the film has been in theaters for two months. Unfortunately, it was not screened in Ramallah (an important city in Palestine), but we are preparing to hold small screenings in Palestinian cities.
Question: Where did you shoot this movie and why is it that place?
MM: We filmed on both sides of Israel and Palestine, just to maintain the authenticity of the film. Because it was too long to get permission to shoot in Ramallah, and some staff were unable to step there, we only shot Palestinian residential areas and some street scenes in Jaffa and small villages near Jerusalem. We only shoot some street scenes in Ramallah that can't deceive the audience.
Question: What do you want the audience to remember about the movie after leaving the theater?
MM: My first goal is to make a movie that is exciting and connects with the audience's emotions. In any case, I hope that the audience will want to know more about the issues mentioned in the film after they go home after watching "Out In The Dark".
Question: Do you prefer to make LGBT movies?
MM: I think a good story is a good story, regardless of whether the subject involves comrades or not.
Question: Are gay movies beginning to flourish? Has it succeeded in attracting the majority of the audience? Or do you think this is just a small work?
MM: On several occasions, gay-themed movies have been hugely successful, such as "Milk", "Brokeback Mountain" and "The Bird Cage", but in general, most gay movies are just small works. If you say it, there is nothing wrong with it. Conversely, this allows you to create freely.
Question: What is your next step?
MM: I am now planning to remake a novel. This is new to me, adaptation of novels, and I still like it so far. That is an unusual detective story that happened in South Arran. It has nothing to do with politics and the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Question: Single or existing?
MM:
PS: After the movie was released, the director even received letters of accusation from Israel and Palestine, saying that he was anti-them.
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2. Ending
My co-screenwriter Yael and I are not optimistic about the future at all. But it is really interesting to look at optimism and pessimism. When we previewed it to friends in Los Angeles, they said: It's a tragic story, and the ending is really frustrating. But when my producer showed it to the Israelis, they asked him why it was a happy ending.
Different races have different opinions, just like some people think that Roy will show up at the dock and wait for Nimr, while some people think that Roy will definitely be locked up in jail.
The director felt that this movie could not be compared with "Bubbles" because the endings of the two films were completely different. The ending of this movie makes people feel that there is always a glimmer of hope.
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3. Actor Information
Nicholas Jacob who plays Nimr is not actually an actor, but Michael who plays Roy Aloni is a big star in Israel. Nicholas' girlfriend came to audition, but it was unsuccessful. When she left, she introduced her boyfriend to us because we had not found an actor to play Nimr. Her boyfriend is a man with an interesting background. He is an Arab, but his mother is Italian, and he speaks four languages. He was going to be a pilot, he planned to study at Lufthansa Aircraft Academy in Germany. So when he came, he didn't have a good match with the casting director. He never learned to practice.
Anyway, Michael was there to play with the auditioning actors, and Nicholas was more handsome than the other two auditioning actors, so everyone decided to keep him. When he played against other actors, his performance was really good, and when he played against Michael, they even sparked.
Nicholas grew up in a doped environment. He is the only Arab in the Jewish school, so he knows both languages. For his Arab friends, he is too Jewish; for his Jewish friends, he is too Arab. He is not gay, but he can integrate himself into the role, and we have rehearsed many times for this. I admire them for being able to escape from their true self.
Michael Aloni is an Israeli child star. The director discovered this person from the poster of his nephew, and then watched one of his films and thought he was really good, so he invited him to join the crew.
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so tiring to write! I hope this will help everyone understand this movie better, so I withdrew it~
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