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March 8, 2010 | 2:56 am

For Israelis, both despair and delight at “Ajami” Oscar loss

Posted by Danielle Berrin

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At the official Oscar party for the Israeli foreign film nominee “Ajami,” the tension between art and politics threatened to overwhelm the night. And rather than celebrate a win for the third consecutive Israeli film to be nominated for an Oscar, private sighs of relief followed the film’s loss to Argentina.

Mixed feelings about the already controversial film were intensified after “Ajami” co-director, Skandar Copti gave a polarizing interview to Israel’s Channel 2 TV hours before the Oscar telecast. In the interview, he denounced his ties to the State of Israel.

“I am not the Israeli national team and I do not represent Israel,” Copti said.

The fallout from Copti’s remarks lingered throughout the evening and divided the mostly Arab-Israeli cast from the rest of the guests in attendance. The Israeli Consulate, who hosted the expensive party at X Bar in Century City, put their best face forward despite the awkward atmosphere, determined to celebrate Israel’s growing inroads in Hollywood.

“Tomorrow no one will remember what [Copti] said,” Consul General of Israel Jacob Dayan said confidently. “They’ll remember that this is an Israeli movie and that it will help make Israel a little stronger by reinforcing the relationship between Israel and Hollywood.”

Shahir Kabaha, one of the film’s stars and an Arab-Muslim resident of the Jaffa neighborhood depicted in the film, relished his moment in the spotlight. The Oscars mark his first visit to both Los Angeles and the United States and multiple camera crews from the Israeli press surrounded him as he gave interviews from the outdoor balcony. For Kabaha, “Ajami” transcends the boundaries of politics to reveal a truth about one slice of Israel.

“I think the film represents human beings,” Kabaha said. “It’s not about Israel; it represents people that are in a bad situation and need help.”

Indeed, the film focuses on the poor and violent underclass that inhabits a religiously and economically mixed neighborhood in Tel Aviv. But while the film portrays Arab Christians, Muslims and Jews engaging in what seems like a gang war, Kabaha said the real neighborhood is more inclusive and that he counts Jews among his friends.

And in fact, “Ajami” itself is the product of an Arab-Jewish partnership.

Copti, who is a Christian Arab, co-directed the film with Yaron Shani, an Israeli Jew. But, according to Copti, the collaboration is not suggestive of any broader comity between the two groups. During his Channel 2 interview, Copti said the film is “technically” Israeli because it received state funding, but he denied its figurative connection to Israel.

“I cannot represent a country that does not represent me,” he said.

Even though that statement angered the film’s Israeli supporters – “Ajami” received approximately $500,000 of its budget from the Israel Film Fund and Copti is a graduate of Israel’s Technion in Haifa – some felt the remark was affirming.

“The film represents Israel exactly,” said Israeli-American choreographer Barak Marshall. “It touches on almost all of the issues we face in Israeli society and it shows how broad the public debate is; that someone who is from Israel can negate his very connection to the state shows how wonderfully strong and alive our political culture is.”

For Dayan, art that reflects a dynamic Israeli society and its status as a pluralistic democracy is an essential strength of statehood. But on the other hand, the fact that almost every Israeli film of note eventually gets usurped by politics is frustrating.

Out in the lobby, the stars of the film gathered around a large plasma screen to watch the announcement of the best foreign film Oscar (the party was moved after hotel management discovered that several actors were underage), and there they waited with bated breath.

Katriel Schory, the director of the Israel Film Fund stood out in the crowd, with his white hair and high hopes of taking home the golden statuette. Schory didn’t mind either the director’s scathing comments or the film’s challenging subject matter.

“Everything is okay, it’s perfectly alright,” he said. “[Copti] is entitled to his view. I’m very happy with the film and we stand behind it. In Israel, there are many narratives and this is one of those narratives.”

After “Ajami” lost to Argentina’s “El secreto de sus ojos” (The Secret in their Eyes), those who were embittered by Copti’s remarks quietly delighted in the loss, secretly slapping high five’s and sending exultant text messages. But those associated with the film were visibly disappointed. 

“So we lost again,” Dayan said, mildly deflated. “But the fact is, this is our third time in a row in this category and every time we’re there. This helps us better our connection with Hollywood and we have to be there again and again.”

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Perhaps Hollywood is not the plateau to which Israel should be aspiring.  That’s like aspiring to watch TV instead of reading.  How about we leave those low-level aspirations to others and continue to promote things which elevate us around the world:  education, science, medicine (still just an art), and peace.  Yes, they will hate us anyway.  Sometimes one might argue that we should give them a reason.  But with a cooler head, the paths which seems to be most effective in keeping us out of the ovens are the above, not Hollywood.  (One should differentiate “Hollywood” from Jewish supporters or supporters of Israel in the entertainment industry.)  As to anyone else, I think it was Golda Meir who said (something like) that when they start loving their children more than they hate us, things will change.

Comment by Jordan Glass on 3/08/10 at 3:34 pm

Skandar Copti is the one who ‘lost’last night.

As an Arab Muslim Israeli, he lost a golden opportunity to speak to all the peoples of Israel and the world, to be a voice for our common humanity, and the universal yearnings that we share.

Copti has helped to create a work of art, but has failed to understand that societies,like art, are multi-faceted and multi-dimensional. When he denies he is part of Israel, he denies a part of himself.

The film will speak for itself. It does not need a golden idol from Hollywood.

Comment by Cherylynne Berger on 3/08/10 at 5:08 pm

I too, was glad that Ajami lost after the comments by Copti. I saw the movie and was moved by movie, regardless of who directed the movie. With the bitterness displayed by Copti, the problems as we observe daily, although in microcosm, with never be healed. So Mr. Copti, give up your Israeli citizenship, and take up arms against Israeli. Perhaps that will make you feel better.

Comment by Leon on 3/08/10 at 5:29 pm

Christian Palestinians are treated very badly in Gaza and the Western Bank.
Many of them leave and immigrate because of ther situation.
Chriatian Arabs in Israel enjoy much better treatment and Copti does not represent them.

Comment by Rivka Shpak Lissak on 3/08/10 at 10:11 pm

Such a deeply beautiful film, i think it deserves a watch from everyone.

Comment by Nursing Home Abuse Center on 3/09/10 at 6:20 am

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/01/30-3

http://spot.colorado.edu/~chernus/NewspaperColumns/Israel/IsraelisGetTruthOnGaza.htm

Sorry, but I will boycott Israeli products, including films, until they stop bombing Palestine.
Thank you

Comment by Bill Jackson on 3/09/10 at 8:17 am

Here’s the problem, Bill: you weren’t *buying* Israeli products before (as far as you knew) and you won’t stop *using* them now.  Israelis hold patents to so many of the products you use that you can’t stop using them.  On another point, there are many Israelis—and an even greater number of Jews—who have a meaningful level of empathy toward oppressed people everywhere, including the Gazans and their Arab cousins in other parts of Israel and around the world.  You clearly haven’t studied the history of how this all came to be.  Merely knowing that there was a holocaust (assuming you acknowledge it) doesn’t equate to understanding how the present-day Jews came to be there and how the present-day Arabs who want to take Israel away got to be there.  Let’s see whether you’re willing to do the reading required from public historical sources.  It takes work.  Are you up for it?

Comment by Jordan Glass on 3/09/10 at 8:26 am

I applaud Copti for speaking out about Israeli Apartheid.  So long as Israel occupies the land of the Palestinian people, and leaves a single settler or soldier in the West Bank I will join my Jewish, Muslim and Christian friends in boycotting Israel in any way possible.  Comments such as those by Glass make me yet more convinced that such action is necessary and morally right.

Comment by Mary Hughes-Thompson on 3/09/10 at 9:11 am

Copti is a FOOL!!! He graduated the Technion…gets a chance to work on an Oscar nominated film and then…“Bites the Hand that Feeds Him????”

Find some other country to take you in my friend!!!

Norm Galston, Newbury Park CA

Comment by norog on 3/09/10 at 10:35 am

Israelis “making inroads”, give me a break Jews control the entertainment industry (music, hollywood, porn, etc.). Making inroads is a ridiculous understatement.

Copti is right though, despite all its PC crap, Israel is a Jewish state for the rights of Jews and their benefit.  Apartheid didn’t make blacks feel South African, neither does Zionism for non-Jews.

Comment by CheMan on 3/11/10 at 2:29 pm

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