Gal Gadot adapting controversial Israeli-Palestinian love story into film

The 2014 Hebrew novel “Borderlife,” the story of an Israeli-Palestinian romance, was banned from high school reading lists.

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JERUSALEM (JTA) — Gal Gadot and her husband are adapting a controversial Hebrew novel into a feature film.

Gadot and Yaron Varsano’s Pilot Wave production company will co-produce the film with Keshet International, Variety reported.

The project is based on the 2014 Hebrew novel “Borderlife” by Israeli author Dorit Rabinyan, which was published in English by Random House as “All the Rivers.” The novel tells the story of an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man who meet in New York and fall in love, but hide their romance from friends and family as they come to terms with their relationship. The book was banned from mandatory high school reading lists in Israel in 2015 by then-Education Minister Naftali Bennett.

In part due to the ban, the novel became a runaway bestseller.

Gadot and Varsano have launched several projects since founding Pilot Wave earlier this year, including a series about the actress Hedy Lamarr and a film about Polish underground leader Irena Sendler, with Gadot playing the title character in each. Pilot Wave is also working on “My Dearest Fidel,” an adaptation of Peter Kornbluh’s magazine article about the close friendship between ABC journalist Lisa Howard and Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Gadot is starring in “Wonder Woman 1984,” which is scheduled to be released in June. She also will star in “Red Notice,” with Ryan Reynolds and Duane Johnson, the biggest feature film ever made by Netflix. The action thriller, set for release in late 2020, is centered around the pursuit of the most wanted art thief in the world.

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