In the aftermath of the collapse of the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations at Camp David in 2000, Oriental follows multiple firsthand accounts and gives the audience a rare inside look into what went wrong at the high-level talks. Weaving the story of Russian-Israeli belly dancer Elina Pechersky preparing for an ambitious performance with five Arab-Israeli musicians, renowned director Avi Nesher examines the way in which different cultures communicate with one another. He weaves together the two narratives into one cinematic experiment, juxtaposing history and mythology, reality and the imagination of Palestinian and Israeli cultures. The result is a film with multiple layers of meaning and significance, offering a subversive, unique and clever look at the ongoing conflict plaguing the Middle East and the way different cultures communicate.

Avi Nasher spent much of his adolescence in New York, leaving Columbia University to return to Israel, his homeland, and serve in the Special Forces branch of the Israeli army. Following his service, he returned to his true love – cinema. He made his very first movie, The Troupe, when he was 23 years old. It is still the highest-grossing Israeli movie ever. In 1990 Nesher wrote and directed the sci-fi mystery Timebomb for MGM and the sensual supernatural mystery Doppelganger for 20th Century Fox. Both films won prizes at the Avoriaz Science Fiction and Fantasy Festival in France, and both have attained cult status among Sci-Fi and Horror aficionados.

Screenwriter: Avi Nesher Cinematographer: David Gurfinkel Editor: Isaac Sehayek

Note: Oriental will be shown with Kibbutz