Reflections on ‘Ajami’

"Ajami" may not have won an Oscar, but we’ll still show it some love over at JTA with a look at some commentary on the film.

* Last week Steven Zeitchik of The Los Angeles Times wrote that "Ajami" reflects a new, less political approach to Israeli filmmaking:

A startlingly dramatic and touchingly human work from one Palestinian and one Israeli filmmaker, "Ajami" tells the story of warring Arab families in the working-class Israel port town of Jaffa, using multiple points of view and an intoxicating mix of genres. "Ajami" is a crime thriller, cultural biography and family drama all rolled into one, a film that manages to expose subtle layers of character while still weaving a tight narrative. … But more than the many things the movie is, perhaps more significant is what it isn’t: a topical film. Copti and Shani are preoccupied with human dynamics far more than political or social ones; if issues like military policy and economic inequality are present at all, it’s simply as part of the cinematic furniture.

That would be unremarkable in many places. But in the political-minded precincts of the Middle East, it reflects a substantial change. …

Recently … the biggest Israeli-produced hits (about a dozen films are made locally each year) are films you’d scarcely guess would come from the place. The two biggest of the last year are "A Matter of Size," a story about an overweight man who takes up sumo wrestling to deal with his insecurity, and "Lost Islands," a coming-of-age love triangle involving twins and set in the 1980s. Not exactly a gritty drama in the West Bank.

"If you see all the movies we’ve produced in the last two years, most of them aren’t dealing with the situation with the Arabs," says Mosh Danon, the head of the country’s producer guild and a producer on "Ajami." "They’re comedies and human dramas."

Another producer on "Ajami," Talia Kleinhendler, says that there’s value in the country producing films with more of a universal feel. "It’s important for a local cinema [culture] to tell a simple story that doesn’t have anything to do with politics. People here have regular lives and regular loves," she says.

* On Sunday the L.A. Times followed up with an account of a visit to the neighborhood that gave us the movie:

… The seemingly odd mix at the Arab-Jewish Community Center in Jaffa’s Ajami neighborhood is one of many in this seaside city that is a joint municipality with Tel Aviv: Arabs and Jews, rich and poor, Muslims and Christians, old and new, Palestinian and Israeli, blue-collar and bourgeoisie, criminal and genteel, authentic and gentrified.

But "Ajami," the movie named for the neighborhood that is up for an Oscar in the foreign language category Sunday, doesn’t candy-coat its reality. Writer-directors Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani offer a raw portrayal of Ajami’s rough-and-tumble side, and vividly illustrate its melting-pot nature.

The directors, an Arab and a Jew, worked for several years on a shoestring budget with non-actors from the neighborhood and a very loose script to present a biting slice of a brutal life of crime, hardship and violence that is not very pretty but is very real.

The movie transcends boundaries, co-producer Talia Kleinhendler said after the nomination. "Compassion, humanity and authenticity, the special people, the non-actors — these transcend language and culture," she told Israel Radio last month. Pain and compassion are universal, she said, "and that’s what works about this movie." …

* Writing in the Forward, Jordana Horn provided insight into the making of the film:

… “Ajami’s” back-story would, if it comes to it, lend itself nicely to the Oscar spotlight. The film is co-directed by a Jewish Israeli, Yaron Shani, and a Palestinian raised in Jaffa, Scandar Copti (who also takes an excellent acting turn as the pivotal character, Binj). The overlapping stories were co-written by the two.

“Our stories are inspired by real events,” the filmmakers wrote in a statement. “Our actors come from the real streets and houses of this human environment, and not from acting schools.”

So it’s either ironic or understandable that the acting in “Ajami” is the best acting I’ve seen come out of Israel in years (albeit with the exception of the luminous Israeli film star Ronit Elkabetz, who is the Israeli Meryl Streep). There is not a single character in any one of Ajami’s kaleidoscopic stories who is not vital, honest and real. Even the one character without whom the plot could easily function is an unaffected pleasure to watch. The character Nasri, whose very existence is little more than a gratuitous plot contrivance, is fully inhabited by the young Fouad Habash.

Certain scenes in the film were virtually improvised. Eran Naim, who plays the Jewish policeman Dando, was once a policeman in real life. In one scene in the film, his character is sent to arrest an Arab drug dealer, but is attacked by Arabs on the street. During the filming of that scene, Naim was not told what was going to happen. His genuine surprise and attempt to retain control make the film pulse with veracity.

“We wanted to widen the boundaries of dramatic expression in a fiction film — to bring it closer to a pure and truthful expression of the real world,” wrote Copti. “During the film, we tried to bring the actors into a conscious state similar to what happens in real life — a state in which we don’t know what will happen or what is expected of us. The actors reacted spontaneously, without written text or any awareness of plot.”

As such, the film is a series of first takes, and feels raw and alive as a result. …

A final note… For those hoping to see Israel win its first Oscar, maybe you can make yourself feel better with this tidbit: The film’s Arab Christian co-director Scandar Copti said just a few hours before the program began that he wasn’t representing his home country.

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The co-director of the Academy Award-nominated movie "Ajami" said he does not represent Israel. 

Scandar Copti made the remarks just hours before the Oscars ceremony, where his film about Arab-Jewish and intra-Arab tensions in a mixed quarter of Jaffa was competing for the best foreign film title.

"Ajami” paints an unsparing picture of Arab-Jewish and intra-Arab tensions. Copti, a Christian Arab, co-directed the film with another young Israeli, Yaron Shani, who is Jewish.

“I am not the Israeli national team and I do not represent Israel,” Copti said in an interview on Israel’s Channel  2. “It is an extremely technical thing, that’s how it works in the Oscars. It says ‘Israel’ because the funding comes from Israel. There’s a Palestinian director, an Israeli director, Palestinian actors and Israeli actors. The film technically represents Israel, but I don’t represent Israel.”

The interview came a day after about 300 demonstrators gathered in the streets of Jaffa to protest against police violence.

Copti’s brothers Jeras and Tony allege that police used excessive force against them last month when they were arrested for trying to prevent police from taking some children in Jaffa into custody. The police said the children were hiding drugs; the Coptis say they were burying the body of a dog.

The brothers filed a complaint against police.

Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat criticized Copti’s remarks.

"The film ‘Ajami’ was produced and received an Oscar nomination thanks to funds from the State of Israel, which Scandar Copti now tries to renounce," Livnat said. "Without the state’s support, Copti would not be walking on the red carpet tonight."