Israeli director decries ‘blindness' over Gaza
Published on: Saturday, May 24, 2025
Published on: Sat, May 24, 2025
By: AFP Text Size: Director Nadav Lapid CANNES: Director Nadav Lapid said his new film 'Yes' about a musician asked to re-write the Israeli national anthem is a response to his country's 'blindness' to suffering in Gaza. Lapid has previously dissected his country's ills in 'Synonyms', which won the Golden Bear in Berlin in 2019, and 'Ahed's Knee' (2021). In 'Yes', he portrays a society buried under its own 'dark side' since Palestinian militants Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. 'Blindness in Israel is unfortunately a fairly collective illness,' the 50-year-old director told AFP at the Cannes festival where 'Yes' premiered on Thursday. Over nearly two and a half hours, it follows a musician named Y, who is commissioned by the authorities to rewrite the Israeli national anthem into a propaganda piece calling for the eradication of Palestinians. 'What happened on October 7, the level of horror and cruelty, pushed everything to a biblical scale,' he said.
Advertisement 'The great Israeli fantasy... of waking up one day to find the Palestinians gone has become a political programme.' He added that 'very few people are standing up to say that what is happening in Gaza is unbearable' and that there is 'a kind of consensus about the superiority of Israeli lives over Palestinian lives'. In one scene, Y and his wife (Shai Goldman) continue feeding their baby while glancing indifferently at their phones, which display notifications of new deadly airstrikes in Gaza. In another, a small crowd gathers on a rooftop to dance joyfully to the sound of fighter jets overhead. On the eve of the Cannes festival, Lapid was among more than 380 film figures, including major Hollywood actors, to sign an open letter condemning the film industry's silence on what it called 'genocide' in Gaza. Lapid said he had to overcome numerous obstacles before starting the film, which was carried out in 'guerrilla mode' as the Israeli offensive in Gaza was under way. Technicians and actors pulled out, and some backers chose not to get involved. 'I was told people no longer make political films on these subjects. They no longer want films for or against' the war, said the director. 'Yes' also refers to the only answer artists are allowed to give in Israel when asked about their support for the war, according to lead actor Ariel Bronz. 'Our first duty as artists is not to go where the wind is blowing,' said Bronz, who caused uproar in 2016 by inserting an Israeli flag into his anus during a performance in Tel Aviv. 'We need to pay a personal price and it's a real struggle to survive in this position where you're totally isolated in your own country,' he told AFP. French producers backed the film and there was also support from an independent Israeli public fund despite its biting tone. 'Yes' will open in European cinemas in September, but no Israeli distributor has so far agreed to screen it. 'If I didn't have inside me the ambition, the hope, the pride and the fantasy to shake things up, I wouldn't have made it,' Lapid added. 'I think society needs a shock, and I hope this film will be one.' The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 left 1,218 people dead on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. A further 251 people were taken hostage. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 53,762 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
7 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Reigning champion Swiatek sets up French Open semi clash with Sabalenka
PARIS: Triple-defending champion Iga Swiatek set up a salivating French Open semi-final against world number one Aryna Sabalenka after marching past Elina Svitolina in the last eight on Tuesday. Swiatek bested 13th seed Svitolina 6-1, 7-5 in just over 90 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier to continue her bid to equal a 102-year record by winning four successive French Open titles. The Polish fifth seed will face Sabalenka in the semi-finals after the Belarusian earlier eliminated Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in straight sets. "Aryna is always a challenge, she has a game for every surface. I need to focus on myself, do the work and just go for it," said Swiatek. The former world number one has struggled for consistency since winning the clay-court treble of Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros in 2024, but can fall back on positive memories of playing and beating Sabalenka on the red dirt. "I don't know if she (Sabalenka) elevates my game. Against every player, we play different way, so it's hard to compare. But for sure our rivalry is pushing both of us," said Swiatek. The rivals have never met at Roland Garros, but Swiatek emerged the victor in their last two meetings on clay – in the finals of the Madrid and Italian Opens last season. "It's going to be a tough match but I'm happy for the challenge," the 24-year-old added. After starting sluggishly in her fourth-round win over former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina, where Swiatek found herself 6-1, 2-0 down before kicking into gear, she hit the ground running on Tuesday. Swiatek broke Svitolina's serve in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead, before outlasting her opponent in two lengthy, tightly-contested games to consolidate her advantage. The five-time Grand Slam winner then served out the opener to 15 on a gusty centre court in Paris. The pair exchanged consecutive breaks of serve early in the second set, but neither could seize the advantage until Swiatek forced the breakthrough at 5-5 with a powerful forehand down the line. Swiatek showed her killer instinct by holding again to 15 and sealing the win with back-to-back aces. "I knew it's going to be a tough match, and it was. You know, even though first set, the score looks pretty straightforward, it wasn't like that in any other games... I had to fight for every point," said Swiatek. "I'm happy that I also stepped up when she broke me in the second set and that I kept my intensity until the end." Defeat for Svitolina means the 30-year-old Ukrainian has never progressed further than the quarter-finals at the French Open despite having reached the last-eight stage five times in her career. — AFP
The Star
14 hours ago
- The Star
Fugitive capybara caught by China zoo after two months on the run
Capybaras lounge in the Zhuyuwan Scenic Area in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. - CMG SHANGHAI: Officials have captured the last member of a runaway capybara gang that escaped from a zoo in eastern China two months ago, a statement said on Tuesday (June 3). The missing male rodent, named "Doubao" -- "Bean Bun" in Chinese -- absconded from an enclosure at the Yangzhou Zhuyuwan Scenic Area along with two other capybaras in early April. Doubao remained at large for weeks after his companions were caught by zoo officials. "The runaway child has returned home!" the zoo wrote in a social media post. The capybara -- a rodent the size of a six-year-old child -- walked into a humane trap early Tuesday morning and was returned to his enclosure by zoo staff. Despite spending two months on the run, Doubao gained weight and his fur was still "smooth and glossy", the zoo said. "It looks like he was doing well out there!" it added. Capybaras are native to South America but in recent years have become popular attractions at zoos worldwide, with the semi-aquatic rodents becoming unlikely darlings of the internet. The zoo said the trio made their April breakout when another capybara Bazong -- "Big Shot" -- broke through a fence. Bazong was later found relaxing in a lake. It took seven or eight zoo staff to trap the second accomplice, Duoduo or "Hide Hide", in a rubbish bin. But Doubao eluded capture, with the zoo in May issuing a mock wanted poster accusing him of engaging in a mass jailbreak. Officials at one point offered a reward of frozen fried rice, a carton of eggs, capybara-themed merchandise and lifetime entry to the zoo to anyone with information about his whereabouts. A zoo representative also repeatedly pleaded for Doubao's return on livestreamed videos, Tuesday's statement said. - AFP
The Star
14 hours ago
- The Star
French court tries ex-bosses of Ubisoft over sex harassment
Serge Hascoët, former creative director of Ubisoft, exits the courtroom after the trial of French video game publisher Ubisoft Entertainment former executives for harrasment and sexual assault at the courthouse in Bobigny, suburb of Paris, on June 2, 2025. — AFP PARIS: Three former top executives from French video game giant Ubisoft, the maker of Assassin's Creed and Far Cry , went on trial on June 2 accused of psychologically and sexually harassing employees for years. The trial, to last until June 6, was supposed to be held in March but was adjourned after lawyers complained they received some documents too late. The industry has been scrutinised for years over its treatment of women and minorities in the workplace – and the way they are depicted in games. Ubisoft launched an internal inquiry in 2020 after anonymous testimonies emerged on social media accusing the company of a toxic work culture. Several senior executives later left the firm. The executive shake-up at Ubisoft was hailed by some as a #Metoo moment in the male-dominated video game publishing industry, which has faced criticism for misogynistic imagery often found in games. One of the accused, Serge Hascoet, resigned from his post as chief creative officer. The other two – Thomas "Tommy" Francois, vice-president of editorial and creative services, and game director Guillaume Patrux – were dismissed for serious misconduct. All three men deny the claims. Hascoet and Francois arrived at the Bobigny court outside Paris on Monday morning. Employees had complained of regular public humiliation and hazing. Francois is the focus of the most damning claims of systematic psychological and sexual harassment at the company's offices in the eastern Paris suburb of Montreuil. Between January 2012 and July 2020, Francois is alleged to have often watched pornographic films in the open-plan office and commented on the appearance of female employees. Headstand in a skirt Francois was also accused of forcing a young employee he had just hired to do a headstand in the open-plan office while wearing a skirt. He is also accused of tying the same woman to a chair and putting her in an elevator, sending her to another floor. He also allegedly forced her to attend a work meeting after he painted her face with a felt-tip pen. In addition to the accusations of sexual and psychological harassment, Francois is being prosecuted for an attempted sexual assault when he tried to forcibly kiss a young employee during a Christmas party as she was held by other colleagues. According to an investigative report seen by AFP, Francois encouraged "his subordinates to act in the same way". Hascoet is accused of lewd behaviour and posing intrusive questions of a sexual nature, as well as racist comments and behaviour. The third defendant, former game director Patrux, 39, has been accused of psychological harassment. Investigators spoke to dozens of witnesses during the probe, but "many refused to file a complaint for fear of reactions from the video game community," according to the report seen by AFP. – AFP
