A Borrowed Identity

Director Eran Riklis is a filmmaker with great responsibilities on his shoulders. Although Arabs citizens are a minority in Israel, no special treatment is reserved for them. This aspect of Israeli society, its rules and regulations have been depicted by him in this film. It revolves around a young boy who has to make personal sacrifices in order to be accepted in Israeli society. It is no surprise that his life undergoes major upheavals when he is accepted with some reticence, reservations in a prestigious boarding school in Jerusalem. It is not a generalization when it is said that anybody can face issues related to culture, identity and language. If watched from this perspective, 'Dancing Arabs' is neither 100% pro Arab nor 100% anti Israel. "What does it mean to be an Arab in Israel ?" This key questions emanates from this film. 'Dancing Arabs' was the opening film during 19th International Film Festival of Kerala. Its lead actor Tawfik Barhom was the darling of the local media in Kerala state of India for more than a week. Before him, no other actor from Israeli cinema managed to become so popular.

Actually that is not true, but it does have a premise that is easy to relate to and if you have the quality writing engage the viewer to be interested in the story. And this has the quality to pull it off. It's not an easy movie to watch, though that doesn't mean, we don't get lighter scenes too.

Of course the conflict is there and the characters have to deal with a history, that is so complex that one movie alone could not do justice to it all. You have to really engage this open minded and not blinded by one side and see one side as bad or worse than the other. This is a human story after all and it plays out like that. You really feel for the main characters and their struggle, something the movie is really adamant on showing the viewer ...

The Israeli film "Dancing Arabs" was shown in the U.S. as "A Borrowed Identity." It was directed by Eran Riklis. The movie stars Tawfeek Barhom as Eyad, a Palestinian boy who is an Israeli citizen. Although his plight isn't as bad as a non-Israeli Palestinian, he is nonetheless a second-class citizen. (Palestinian citizens work in restaurants as dishwashers. Jewish citizens work as waiters.)

Despite being Palestinian, Eyad is allowed to attend a prestigious Israeli boarding school. Naturally, he's the target of racial slurs, but he isn't physically injured, and he moves forward toward adulthood. As part of a class assignment, he meets Jonathan (Michael Moshonov), a young man who has progressive muscular dystrophy. He also meets an Israeli girl, Naomi, played by Daniel (Danielle) Kitsis. Naomi is intelligent and loving, but the question is whether their relationship has a future, because of their cultural and religious differences.

The plot moves in unexpected directions, and the movie is emotionally powerful and gripping. The acting is excellent, and I think the plot represents a balanced picture of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, as it plays out among individuals.

We saw this movie at the Little Theatre in Rochester, as part of the highly successful Rochester International Jewish Film Festival. The film will work well on the small screen.

"Of course, I'm aware of the animosities destroying brain cells on both sides, and I know all about the obstinacy of the warring parties, their refusal to reach an agreement, their devotion to their own murderous hatred…." Yasmina Khadra, The Attack

Identity is indeed the heart of A Borrowed Identity about Palestinian boy, Ayed (Tawfeek Barhom), sent to a premiere boarding school in Jerusalem, but beset by prejudice against him and decisions about which culture he should embrace. This informative film is a crash course in cultural clash with enough character and interpersonal drama to satisfy the most discerning cinephile. Those who found The Attack an unforgettable interpretation of the conflict will have a similar reaction to this film.

From the early '80's nothing is going right for Palestinians: Israel dominates the split of the region while Hamas begins to retaliate. Meanwhile Ayed has the misfortune to fall in love with a Jew, Naomi (Daniel Kitsis), whose love will drive some of his basic decisions, like staying at the boarding school, and therefore his life.

The charm of this film is that it does not take sides, just empathizes with the protagonist, whose love is not only natural but also an emblem of the absurdity of cultural wars when one considers that it's really about people, whose loves cannot be controlled, and shouldn't be. Her mother would rather Naomi be "a lesbian, a drug addict, or has cancer" than be in love with an Arab.

The more time director Eran Riklis lets us spend with these Romeo- and-Juliet lovers, the more we are convinced the Arab-Israeli conflict is an absurdity born of historical hatreds that really shouldn't apply in the modern World. The tragedy is that Ayed must deal with the debilitating prejudice daily and make decisions on it rather than his natural love and brilliance.

But that conflict is what makes A Borrowed Identity such a watchable drama that gives more insight into that region of the world than all the Wikipedia articles touching on the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Before its release, this movie was given a subtitle. It's now "Dancing Arabs: A Borrowed Identity." Just as well. The only dancing I recall in the movie is dancing around the loaded issue of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The young protagonist is the only Arab in his school, and he makes friends with individuals while suffering discrimination in the broader social structure. It's no new observation that individuals from opposing groups can get along fine even as those groups as a whole seem to insist on remaining irreconcilable. The author of the story, Sayed Kashua, has been accepted by Jewish Israeli society while still identifying with the Arab community that is largely anti-Israeli, and the movie shows Arab hostility as counterproductive on the one hand while also showing the behavior of some Israeli Jews-- again, not so much individuals as groups-- as intolerant. According to Kashua, the movie is roughly autobiographical. With his books, along with a series of newspaper columns and a comical TV series about the stresses of being an Arab in Jewish-dominated Israeli society, Kashua won plaudits in Israel and this movie was set for a big opening when, as will happen, war with Gaza broke out. The opening was postponed for some months. At more or less the same time, Kashua received an opportunity to take up a temporary position in the USA and when he left Israel he declared glumly that he wasn't sure he would ever bother to return. So a pall is cast over the film, although the film itself is a good job from Eran Riklis, whose movies are often about individuals on a journey that helps them understand who they are.