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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2007)
•R 5. 2007 jUStpUt|z7 Inside The Bubble of Israel and Palestine An interview with Eytan Fox by John Esther f ixlies of land, flesh, politics and families collide in battles against house demolitions. She 1 asked my philosopher friends to give me a the latest film by Eytan Fox, director of the introduced many briefing on Foucault ¡laughs/, and 1 found it acclaimed Yossi & Jagger and Walk on Water. Palestinian friends of hers. The way Noam very interesting. I should know it better, grows up was really how I grew up. because in the list of famous, important gay Screening 9 p.m. Oct. 16 at Cinema 21 as us [kids] to the part of the Portland Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, The Bubble follows Noam (Ohad Knoffler), Yali (Alon Friedman) and Lula (Daniela Wircer), three young progressive Israelis sharing men that we like to wave around, Foucault is JE: Why are most of the songs sung very high on the list. But when 1 was work in English? ing on The Bubble I wasn’t using any of an apartment in Tel Aviv. Looking for love and justice for all, their EF: Music has always been very impor plights take on an addition layer of meaning when Noam falls in tant in my films. 1 try to use music to char love with Ashraf (Yousef “Joe” Sweid), a Palestinian with a secret acterize a world and the people we’re dealing with. I wanted to use he must hide from his family and friends back home. Coldplay, and people said: “You can’t, g’s much too commercial. Your In this exclusive interview, 1 spoke with Fox about the film and Foucault’s thoughts. Eytan Fox JE: In general, how do Israelis feel about homosexuals in the armed forces? characters are alternative.” So they started giving me the names to all EF: If you have all of your arms and legs and you are healthy, these bands. 1 consider myself a connoisseur of alternative, pop, r<x:k you’re supposed to go for your three years of military duty. You can and Niiii, but these were bands 1 didn’t know. You go into these record try to use your homosexuality to leave the army. You can come in John Esther: In some ways the story is autobiographical. places—like the ones I grew up with—and it’s frightening to ask the and say again and again to a superior, “I can’t handle the shower Eytan Fox: I was also very influenced by mother. She was an shopkeeper for some record because he might snub you. It’s not “too with all the boys together.” [Laughs/ I know people who did that. American woman who moved to Israel with her husband and three alternative enough." They can be very snobbish. These people are sons. After the initial shock from moving to Manhattan to also snobs about Hebrew music. its place in western Asia. JE: How do Israelis negotiate their notions of democracy, Jerusalem in 1967, she kind of got her act together and she decid freedom and tolerance for their own citizens with the suppres ed to do whatever she could to make Israel a better place. She JE: Once Yali makes an offhand quip about Michel Foucault worked on relationships between Israelis and Arabs, Israelis and to Noam, the film took on a different reading for me. What influ Palestinians. As a city planner she was given all the neighborhixxls ence has Foucault had on your work? of East Jenisalem—Palestinian neighborhixxJs. She fought so many EF: My understanding of Michel Foucault is very limited. Shea Steel Realtor 503-282--Í000 Ext 1 12 sheasteel ©'remax.net Signature Properties Dawnie Grabstein Mortgage Broker 5O3-557-9IOO daw niegrubstein ©Comcast.net Close your transaction with Shea and Dawnie and receive $200 off your closing costs! Offer expires 10/31/07 EF: I was trying to show that contradiction in the film. You kx)k at Tel Aviv and go, “What an open-minded, democratic soci ety,” but that’s only for Israeli and Jewish citizens. © Hearty, Nutritious Meals Delivered to Your Doorstep We cover both sides of the fence. We'll find you a home and get you the loan. sion of people in other territories bordering Israel? ■ We use fresh, high quality ingredients to meet your dog’s nutritional needs. ■ Custom meal plans available for dogs with health issues including allergies and cancer. y 9 5O5-Z/S-7ÎT7Z tJUtJ.d03sfetJ.nef "For fans who atill like their rap music with samples and rough edges this Brooklyn duo may do the trick." - Scratch Magaslne SOLE PRICE «9.99 CD ILLER THAN THEIRS is a reaction to all things bloated ic phony, boring & corporate, fancy ¿c faBhionea, and dead ic. robotic. It is a bar-room brawl of a record, honestly eccentric, somewhat instructional, wildly colored and a little bit I LLER than the rest of ya’ll. "ÎStïSw • off.r good thru 10/16/0? MII1FNNII1M S03.231.8926 BIP 31S8 E BURNSIDE
