The Cousin, directed by and starring Tzahi
Grad, is a new feature film about relations between Arabs and Jews within
Israel.
Naftali lives with his wife and two kids on a moshav in rural Israel. Naftali, an actor and filmmaker, is a bit of a naïve fellow,
dreaming of drawing tens of thousands of Israelis and Palestinians into
one-on-one encounters in order to advance the peace process.
Near his house he has a studio in an old cottage which badly
needs renovations and he hires a young Palestinian named Fahed to do the
renovations. Fahed is a Palestinian of Israeli
citizenship and Naftali explains the difference between a Palestinian from the
Territories and one from inside Israel to his children.
That same morning, a
local girl is assaulted and, not surprisingly, the local police jump to accuse
Fahed. When Fahed is released on the cognizance of
Naftali, members of the local community get together and decide to take matters
into their own hands.
The film depicts Naftali as a moral person, one who cares
about Arabs and wants to combat negative stereotypes about them. As the plot develops
and the tension mounts, Naftali is threatened by his neighbors who pressure him
to stop protecting Fahed. Although he is a compelling character, he is also beset with ambivalence. As things begin to spin out of control, we see how he
blunders from event to event, and how he is especially caught off-guard by his
wife’s mixed reactions to his attempts to protect his new worker.
Afraid of being too preachy and wanting to produce
an entertaining film, the filmmaker misses the mark by concluding with a surprising
and ironic twist which leaves the viewer asking what happened to the naïve optimism
of our main character and wondering whether racist violence can be curbed in
our society.
The Cousin was produced by Bleiberg
Entertainment.
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