A FILM BY UDI ALONI Synopsis

Kareem leads an aimless life between odd jobs and Kareem and his group have been performing at But the road to success is never easy... Kareem and hanging out with his buddies. He livessynopsis with his par- small neighborhood gigs and family birthday parties. his group face a violent confrontation with national- ents in a crime-ridden ghetto of the mixed Jewish-Ar- When they finally get a chance to perform in a Tel istic Jewish rappers. Their friend Talal, already mixed ab city of Lyd, some 20 minutes from Tel Aviv. Most Aviv hip-hop club, Kareem‘s star potential is quickly up with a dangerous drug lord, could lose his home of his childhood friends have turned to selling drugs noticed. The “first Arab rapper” is asked to appear because of government-imposed gentrification. through “ATMs” – transaction holes in the walls of on a TV news program. As Kareem‘s talent develops, Kareem‘s biggest blow could be not having Manar dilapidated buildings. so does his political consciousness, and the group‘s onstage with him for his most important gig yet. Her Palestinian rapper Kareem and his singer girlfriend Manar struggle, love and Kareem‘s loving musician parents are constantly lyrics become more defiant. Although he raps “I‘m cousins threaten to harm them if she performs pub- make music in their crime-ridden ghetto and Tel Aviv‘s hip-hop club scene... worrying about his life choices and they try hard to not political,” Kareem and the group use music to licly with him, an act which they consider a disgrace Screenplay by real-life rapper Tamer Nafar (who stars as Kareem) and guide their son on the right path. Kareem is devas- express their tough life as Palestinian youth. to the family honor. The time has come for Kareem tated when his father is killed in a car crash. The fam- to either surrender to conservative tradition or stand Oren Moverman (THE MESSENGER, TIME OUT OF MIND). ily tragedy brings him closer to his singer girlfriend, up for the woman he loves, the artist he respects... A social drama with kick-ass music directed by Udi Aloni Manar, and motivates him to do something more with (ART/VIOLENCE, FORGIVENESS). his life. TAMER‘S LYD Tamer has been living in the impoverished and mixed Palestinian-Jewish city of COMMENTS FROM DIRECTOR UDI ALONI Lyd since the day he was born. There is a scene in the movie where his mother, who has a spiritual awakening and becomes a Quranic healer, cures an adoles- cent from a traditional Jewish family. This scene, far from being an impossibility, JUNCTIONcomments 48 TAMER NAFAR AS KAREEM represents what used to be the very real multicultural relationships among the working classes in Lyd. The Israeli city of Lod is the Palestinian city of Lyd, which once sat on the main JUNCTION 48 is a fiction film that was inspired by the real-life experiences of sitting and talking, Tamer told me his life story from a more personal perspective, railway junction. In 1948, tens of thousands of Palestinians were exiled from Lyd leading actor and co-writer Tamer Nafar, who started the Arab hip-hop scene in and we realized that we were ready to make a feature film. When Tamer started in order to resettle the town with Jews. It became a mixed Palestinian-Jewish city 2000. I met Tamer two years later, when he appeared in my documentary film to suggest names of possible actors, I already knew that only charismatic Tamer located 20 minutes away Tel Aviv. Our protagonist, the first Arab hip-hop artist, LOCAL ANGEL with his rap group DAM. It was the beginning of a wonderful could play Kareem. I mentioned the project to my good friend, brilliant filmmaker HIP-HOP IS ART AND VIOLENCE I feel that hip-hop, in a way, is art/violence. It‘s not art instead of violence, nor lives in the ghetto of Lyd. In one of his lyrics, he writes: Damn this land. Damn friendship. After that, he appeared in two other films of mine, FORGIVENESS Oren Moverman and he was immediately enthusiastic and offered his support. I is it violence instead of art. Instead, it‘s the existence of rage and resistance Junction 48. The Palestinian citizens of Israel are often referred to as 48ers. and ART/VIOLENCE. Outside of the realm of film, we‘ve collaborated on many never dreamed he would actually become a co-writer. Once Oren and executive within art itself. A few years ago, I was working in The Freedom Theatre of Jenin JUNCTION 48 is the story of Kareem, Manar, and their particular community: social-political projects, through which our friendship has grown even further. producer James Schamus both committed, I knew that nothing could stop us Refugee Camp, as seen in my film ART/VIOLENCE (Cinema Fairbindet Prize at the 48ers. But it‘s also a universal story, the story of young Arab Muslims around In a way, against all odds, we created a binational community with its own from making this dream come true. the 2013 Berlin Film Festival). In Jenin, my dear friend, the late Juliano Mer the world who are searching for a unique language of universality. art and culture, a community that opens the possibility of togetherness while Khamis, used to teach his students that high quality art is a form of resistance, acknowledging the separation in our region. On one of the long nights we spent and resistance is a form of high quality art. Similarly, in my books and in my lectures, I often deal with the relationship between art, politics and theory. Each one of the three is a means to the others and an end in itself. I feel that the music and lyrics in JUNCTION 48, which we created to tell the story of the new generation of the 48ers, exemplify the interrelationships of these three elements. THE SETS THE MUSEUM OF COEXISTENCE Our sets were a hybrid of authentic locations in Lyd and an old Palestinian house The Museum of Coexistence project in JUNCTION 48 doesn‘t actually exist in in Jaffa, which we converted into a studio. Salim Shehada, the most preem- Lyd. And yet similar sites exist in almost every mixed city in Israel. Tel Aviv Uni- inent Palestinian art designer, constructedthe the house that is later demolished sets versity is sitting on the ruins of the Palestinian village Sheikh Mones. In the vil- from scratch. He also converted different rooms of the house into a Communist lage of Ein Hod, Israel built a museum for Dada art inside of a Palestinian house, gathering place (for the parents‘ musical performance), a concert space (for the the owners of which were evicted and now live in an unrecognized community hip-hop performances), a drug-dealing base, and even a police station. three kilometers away. Perhaps the most fitting example is the actual Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem, which was built on top of the ancient Mamilla Grave- yard of an exiled Palestinian community. It‘s painful for me to see that so many progressive institutes in my Jewish-Israeli community are really sitting on a razed the museumpast. SAMAR QUPTY AS MANAR Samar Qupty is a graduate of the Tel Aviv University film school. Originally, she came to work as assistant director while I mentored her own script. But the more she learned about the character Manar, the more she identified with her, and she insisted that I audition her for the role. From the first audition, it was clear FROM COMMUNIST that she had star qualities. Because the other actresses auditioning were also from extremely talented, it took a month to figure out that there was a perfect match TO HEALER between her and Tamer. I should add that the whole process of the casting was The transformation of Kareem‘s mother from com- among people I have known for many years. Some of them I‘ve known as col- communistmunist to Quranic healer is crucial to the film be- leagues, like the mother Salwa Naqara, and some I‘ve known as students, like cause it challenges the Western gaze that sees a Ayed Fadel and Mariam Abu Khaled. We expanded the cast as a true community dichotomy between modernity and religion (Islam). for the coming future. The West viewsto the hijab (headdress) as a symbol of patriarchy, only in order to deny and conceal their own Western patriarchal values. But feminism A FREE SUBJECT leaderwith hijab and without hijab can function equally. The character of pretty young Manar is extremely important in our story, but the In JUNCTION 48, we can see it in the sisterhood story of the Palestinian woman is very complex. If we look at the 70s, and we between the old and new generations, portrayed have role models like Leila Khaled, we see that women used to be more empow- through the bond of Kareem‘s mother and Manar. ered than they are today, and part of the reason for this is the ongoing occupation So while the Western audience would like to see and oppression from the outside that doesn‘t give space for women to fight for hip-hop as contradicting traditional values, we are their own freedom and identities inside of their own communities. Manar is an offering traditional values that have a split within example of many young Palestinian women, as she has had to confront a reac- themselves. Before the accident as a secular leftist tionary movement in her own society and to recreate herself as a free subject. In and after as a traditional healer she remains a figure Beckett‘s Waiting for Godot, Gogo tells Didi, „they took our rights.“ Didi laughs that her son can rely on in times of crisis. and says, „we gave them up.“ Manar‘s logic is the reverse; she refuses to receive her freedom from her boyfriend, insisting to attain it on her own terms. THE JACUZZI SCENE One problem in contemporary Israeli cinema and society is the inven- not a soldier and who has no heroic facade. In his monologue, we tion of the phenomenon known as „shooting and crying.“ In many Israeli experience the removal of the liberal mask from the „shooting and cry- films that deal with the occupation or with war, the soldier protagonist, ing“ narrative. Indeed, unlike the image of the suffering soldier who who is portrayed as having high moral values, commits a sort of crime, seeks moral redemption, in the contemporary Israeli blogosphere, there only later to repent so that the audience can forgive him. This ritual are tens of thousands of Israelis calling for pure violence without any can function on the condition that the Israeli soldier is the subject and shame. For this reason, when the talented Michael Moshonov delivers the Arab/enemy is an object for the soldier‘s psychological narrative. In his monologue in the jacuzzi, I shivered behind the monitor. contrast, the jacuzzi scene in JUNCTION 48 depicts a person who is NATIONALIST RAPPERS Both actors whonatio play Jewish rappers in JUNCTION 48 are also real rappers, but the jacuzzi scene their characters and names in the movie are fictional. Michael Moshonov (RPG), is one of the most preeminent actors in contemporary Israeli cinema. The other rapper, Babylon (67 Carat), is pretty much playing himself. Some Israeli rappers have used music as propaganda for Jewish nationalism; indeed, one of the lead- ing voicesnalist of the extreme right-wing in Israel today is a hip-hop singer. rappers DEDICATED TO SHULAMIT ALONI THE REVOLUTION I dedicate JUNCTION 48 to my dear mother who I lost two yearsmother ago. Shulamit In the last year, I have been developing a project in relation to refugees and Aloni was an amazing woman who fought all her life to make Israel and Palestine Joseph Beuys in Berlin. At the same time, I‘m carrying the burden and the a better place to live in. Everything I know about the struggle for justice and hu- love of Israel-Palestine wherever I go. Not one person has asked me why even man rights, I learned from her. She single-handedly made homosexuality legal in in this time of despair I’m still so active promoting justice, equality, and peace Israel. She brought the feminist discourse to the front. She fought for Palestinian between those two peoples whom I love so much. All I can answer is what the rights like no other Zionist before her. I wish with all my heart that she could philosopher Alain Badiou once wrote me, after I lost a comrade: “The revolution have seen JUNCTION 48. I hope this film will help keep her legacy alive. is always a surprise, never a result.” the revolution UDI ALONI (director)

Udi Aloni (born 1959) is an Israeli and American director and writer whose work Selected Filmography: frequently explores the interrelationships between art, theory, and activism. His 2016 JUNCTION 48 films have been presented in the Berlinaleudi and other major film festivals.aloni His 2013 ART/VIOLENCE (documentary feature) past awards include the Berlinale‘s CINEMA Fairbindet Prize. Aloni‘s visual art Winner of the CINEMA Fairbindet Prize (Berlinale), the Open Eyes has been presented in leading museums and galleries, including the Metropol- Award (Medfilm Festival Rome), Juliano Prize (Cinema South Festival) itan in New York and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. His most recent book is 2009 KASHMIR: JOURNEY TO FREEDOM (documentary feature) What Does a Jew Want? On Binationalism and Other Specters (Columbia Uni- Berlinale Panorama Dokumente 2009 versity Press, 2011). His recent stage work was Anti-Oedipus at the Schillertag 2006 FORGIVENESS Mannheim 2015. Winner of the Audience Award at the Woodstock Film Festival In recent years, Aloni has mentored young actors from one of the harshest refu- 2004 INNOCENT CRIMINALS (music video) gee camps in Palestine, helping them reach the world stage. For Palestinian Rap group DAM 2002 LOCAL ANGEL (documentary feature) Screened at the Berlinale Panorama Dokumente 2003 1996 LEFT (documentary short) with cinematographer Amnon Zalait with co-writer and executive producer Oren Moverman Part of the Re-U-Man interactive presentation at the NY Metropolitan Museum of Art Tamer Nafar (astamer Kareem & co-writer) Samar Qupty Palestinian rap artist Tamer Nafar serves as a role model for young Arabs across samar(as Manar) the globe – a generationnafar searching for new meanings, both political and per- sonal. He is credited with reinventing hip-hop in its purest form: rage without Samar Qupty shines in her first leading role as Manar in JUNCTION 48. The hate, social-political awareness without empty materialism, and large audiences 26-year-old actressqupty and filmmaker was born in Nazareth from a Palestinian fam- without selling out. He importedas the style of hip-hop into his Arab Muslim ghetto ily. She studied cinema and television at university while working in various and exported it back to the world with an Arabic flavor. projects as assistant director, script supervisor, casting and acting. She wrote Tamer was born in 1979 in the city of Lyd, Israel. In 2000, he and his brother and directed the short film HENNAas about polygamy in the Arab word. She is Suhell and theirkareen friend Mahmoud Jrere became DAM, the first Palestinian Arab currently working on her first feature DUNA which treats another social taboo, rap group. Today, millions of fans worldwide follow DAM, which has released sexual abuse. two albums and multiple music videos. Their lyrics are influenced by the Pales- nanar tinian situation and the struggle for equal rights. “What makes JUNCTION 48 such a special film is its ability to show a very par- ticular reality without trying to pretty it up. It reveals a complicated and prob- “My long-time friend and director Udi Aloni helped me to break down the barri- lematic reality, yet it remains a movie about hope, about a generation whose ers to be able to relive parts of my life. It was so important for me to be part of strong will knows no limits. It‘s about me, my sister, my roommate, my friends. a movie that looks at Palestinians through a non-judgmental lens, a reminder It looks at us on the same eye level, not as super heroes nor losers. As a Pales- to ourselves that we do love, we do dance, we do have mothers... tinian woman who lives a daily double dose of oppression, I watch brave Manar We face a unique situation but our goal must be not to let it separate us from in awe, fighting for her dreams without fear. I commend JUNCTION 48 for its humanity. Our mission with the movie JUNCTION 48 was to capture the spirit contribution to women by breaking a taboo and talking about honor killing.” of this lost generation, those who fight oppression with their minds and creativ- ity. These young dreamers who are the passion behind the inevitable change, those brave enough to know change starts from the inside.” A FILM BY UDI ALONI MAIN CREW

director Udi Aloni producers David Silber, Lawrence Inglee screenplay Oren Moverman, Tamer Nafar Stefan Arndt, Udi Aloni director of photography Amnon Zalait executive producers Moshe Edery, Leon Edery editors Isaac Sehayek, Jay Rabinowitz ACE Susan Wrubel, Gideon Tadmor original score Tamer Nafar & Itamar Ziegler Michael Mailis, Eyal Rimmon 2016 – Israel/Germany/USA – 96 minutes – digital surround 5.1 – 1:2.39 – in Arabic & Hebrew production designer Salim Sh‘hade James Schamus, Oren Moverman costumes Dany Bar Shay (Hacol Dvash Ltd.) co-producers Yasmin Zaher, Suhel Nafar make-up Dorit Cohen Ben Korman, Katie Heidy sound design Gil Toren MAIN CAST line producer Micky Rabinovitz

Tamer Nafar Kareem Samar Qupty Manar Salwa Nakkara Kareem‘s Mother Saeed Dassuki Talal Adeeb Safadi Yousef Tarik Copti Abu Abdallah (Talal‘s Father) Sameh “Saz” Zakout Amir Michael Moshonov RPG Elan Babylon 67 Carat Maryam Abu Khaled Maryam Ayed Fadel Hussam Hisham Suliman Sheikh A METRO COMMUNICATIONS – X-FILME CREATIVE POOL – BLACKBIRD – DIG THE MOVIE production Starring TAMER NAFAR SAMAR QUPTY SALWA NAKKARA SAEED DASSUKI AYED FADEL TARIK COPTI SAMEH ZAKOUT MICHAEL MOSHONOV MARYAM ABU KHALED ADEEB SAFADI Screenplay OREN MOVERMAN & TAMER NAFAR Director UDI ALONI Producers DAVID SILBER STEFAN ARNDT LAWRENCE INGLEE UDI ALONI Line Producer MICKY RABINOVITZ DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY AMNON ZALAIT Editors ISAAC SEHAYEK & JAY RABINOWITZ ACE Maisa Abd Elhadi Talal‘s family lawyer Original Score TAMER NAFAR & ITAMAR ZIEGLER Production Designer SALIM SH‘HADE Sound Design GIL TOREN Executive Producers MOSHE EDERY LEON EDERY GIDEON TADMOR EYAL RIMMON MICHAEL MAILIS SUSAN WRUBEL JAMES SCHAMUS OREN MOVERMAN Co-Producers YASMIN ZAHER KATIE HEIDY SUHEL NAFAR BEN KORMAN WORLD SALES THE MATCH FACTORY

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