''Strangers'' (''Zarim'') is a 2007 Israeli experimental fictional film directed by Guy Nattiv and Erez Tadmor that is set during the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

and the 2006 Lebanon War. It is the first feature film that they made together and was developed from an award-winning 2004 short of the same name.

Plot summary

''Strangers'' opens in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

during the

. Rana Sweid ( Lubna Azabal), a

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

from Ramallah currently living in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, meets Eyal Goldman (Liron Levo), an

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i who grew up on a kibbutz, after they accidentally switch bags on a train. They eventually strike up a friendship and decide to watch the World Cup together. Their budding romance is cut short when Rana is mysteriously called back to France and asks Eyal to stop seeing her. Despite her request, he seeks her in France. They are then faced with the 2006 Lebanon War as Eyal is drafted by the Israel Defense Forces.

Cast

* Lubna Azabal - Rana Sweid *Liron Levo - Eyal Goldman *Abdallah El Akal - Rashid Sweid *Patrick Albenque - Semi Jan *Mila Dekker - Simon *Dominique Lollia - Samira Shalach

Production

In 2004, directors Erez Tadmor and Guy Nattiv submitted a short called ''Strangers'' to the Sundance Film Festival. It won the '' Online Film Festival Viewers Award'' which led to funding a full-length version of the film. They envisioned the feature version as experimental in form, largely improvised and centered around the World Cup in Berlin. Production began in Berlin with one actor (Levo), photographer and producer. They then met with actress Lubna Azabal whom they convinced to join the production via phone by telling her: "two actors, one camera and the World Cup Soccer Championships. That's all. No screenplay, only a synopsis, and we want to flow with it."
According to the directors, they wanted "the actors to improvise their lines without being bound by an official screenplay, and to let the relationship that would develop between the characteristics dictate the flow of the plot." The war broke out two weeks into the Berlin shoot, prompting production to shut down. Tadmor noted that, "We immediately made the decision to stop shooting and return home to be with our families. When we continued shooting later in Paris, it was a different movie." The basic premise of the film, a love story, was thus further complicated by the introduction of the war when filming resumed: " 'We didn't want to do a war movie or a political movie, but it's there in the background, on the TV and radios - it's all over the place. The characters really continued their relationship while the war was all around them. We tried to avoid the clichés of the Arab-Israeli conflict, but you saw how these two characters dealt with it,' said Tadmor."

Release

After an initial showing at the

Jerusalem Film Festival The Jerusalem Film Festival ( he, פסטיבל הקולנוע ירושלים, ar, مهرجان القدس السينمائي) is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, It was established in 1984 by the Director of the Jerusal ...

on June 8, 2007, ''Strangers'' was released nationwide in

on May 29, 2008. It was one of two films shown at the

2008 Sundance Film Festival The 2008 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 17, 2008 to January 27 in Park City, Utah. It was the 24th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. The opening night film was '' In Bruges'' and the closing night film was '' CSNY Déjà Vu''. Fil ...

on the 2006 Lebanon War. The other was

Philippe Aractingi Philippe Aractingi (born 1964, Beirut, Lebanon) is a film director and producer. He was born in Beirut, Aractingi is Franco- Lebanese. Early life At the age of 8, his father gave him his first camera. He lived on the demarcation line, at the hea ...

's ''

Under the Bombs ''Under the Bombs'' (French: ''Sous les bombes'', ar, تحت القصف; taht alqasf) is a 2007 Lebanese drama film directed by Philippe Aractingi. The film is set in Lebanon at the end of the 2006 Lebanon War. Plot Although she grew up in Leba ...

''.

IFC Films IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its ...

bought the U.S. rights to ''Strangers'' in 2008 after it was screened at Sundance and the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

. The DVD was released by

Zeitgeist Films Zeitgeist Films is a New York-based distribution company founded in 1988 which acquires and distributes films from the U.S. and around the world. In 2017, Zeitgeist entered into a multi-year strategic alliance with film distributor Kino Lorber. ...

on October 18, 2011.

Reception

Critical response

John Anderson of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' praised the acting as a key factor in making the film a "winner" with "first-rate" production values. Emily Wilson of KQED states that: "Exploring whether love can overcome political and social barriers is a familiar premise, but ''Strangers'' covers the territory in a fresh way. The actors, working mostly without a script, improvised their dialogue, which makes the characters feel less like pawns the filmmakers are moving around to make a point."

Accolades

''Strangers'' was an ''Official Selection'' at the

, the 2008

, and the 2008

São Paulo International Film Festival The São Paulo International Film Festival ( pt, Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo), also known internationally as Mostra, is an annual film festival held in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. A non-profit event, the festival is organized ...

.
*Winner: 2007

- Most Promising Actress- Lubna Azabal *''Nominated'':

- Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema-Dramatic *''Nominated'': 2008

Ophir Award The Ophir Awards ( he, פרס אופיר), colloquially known as the Israeli Oscars or the Israeli Academy Awards, are film awards for excellence in the Israeli film industry awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. The award, named ...

- Best Actor, Liron Levo *''Nominated:'' 2008

- International Jury Award

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strangers 2006 FIFA World Cup 2007 films 2000s Arabic-language films Israeli avant-garde and experimental films 2000s English-language films Films set in 2006 2000s French-language films 2000s Hebrew-language films Israeli independent films Israeli–Lebanese conflict films Israeli–Palestinian conflict films 2007 multilingual films Israeli multilingual films 2007 independent films