It's no secret by now how I feel about Eran Riklis' wonderful film Zaytoun (the title means "Olive" in Arabic). But perhaps the best way to talk about a film is not to write or say a single word. Simply let the film, its charismatic actors -- Stephen Dorff does a breathtaking job playing Yoni, an Israeli pilot, while newcomer Abdallah El Akal as his Palestinian "arch-enemy" Fahed touches hearts -- its border-destroying filmmaker Eran Riklis and the film's producers Fred Ritzenberg, and Gareth Unwin of The King's Speech fame, do the talking.
And so they do, in this fascinating featurette which was sent my way by the film's U.S. distributor, Strand Releasing. As Ritzenberg says, Zaytoun manages to "give the enemy a human face, whatever side you are on." For me, the only enemy is ignorance and with this film we can take a small but significant step in the right direction, towards peace, love and perhaps most importantly, understanding.
Zaytoun opens in Los Angeles and Washington D.C. on September 27th. If you wish to find out more about the film, read my interviews with Eran Riklis and Stephen Dorff, as well as a blog I wrote about the film during last year's Toronto International Film Festival.