Summer Film Series preview for July 19

The organizers of the Summer Film Series at San Juan Community Theatre send along a preview of this week’s film. The showing starts at 7 p.m. Admission is pay-what-you-can. For this season only, fresh popcorn is available for free.

Tel Aviv on Fire

Dramatic comedy, not rated
Run time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Hidden within this almost farcical comedy is the story of one Palestinian trying to exist in two separate but overlapping worlds. Rumpled, easygoing Salam lives in Jerusalem and must pass through the barrier twice daily on the way to his new job in Ramallah as a production assistant on a television soap opera Tel Aviv on Fire. Written primarily for Palestinians, it captures the attention of an Israeli Defense Force officer whose wife is a fan. The connection is made, as so often in films from Israel and the Palestinian territories, at a military checkpoint.

Salam doesn’t have any experience in TV production, but he is fluent in Hebrew, so he’s occasionally consulted on dialogue. Based on this minor task, he identifies himself as the show’s writer when he’s interrogated by Assi, the commander of the checkpoint. It turns out that Assi, has a few ideas for Tel Aviv on Fire — and is determined to see them adopted. Unlikely circumstances get Salam promoted to the show’s writing staff where, to curry the commanders favor, he attempts to insert some of Assi’s ideas into the scripts. What ensues is a soap opera itself with many twists and turns.

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