# Tel Aviv on Fire

Tel Aviv on Fire (Hebrew: תל אביב על האש, Tel Aviv Al Ha'Esh) is a 2018 satirical comedy-drama film directed by Sameh Zoabi and co-written by Zoabi and Dan Kleinman. The film premiered internationally at the 75th Venice International Film Festival in the Orizzonti section, where Kais Nashef won the Best Actor award. The Israeli premiere was at the Haifa International Film Festival, where the film won the Best Film and Best Screenplay awards. It was selected as the Luxembourgish entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

## Plot

Salem (Kais Nashef), a Palestinian from East Jerusalem, is a low-level production assistant on the soap opera Tel Aviv on Fire in Ramallah. The show, which is popular with both Palestinians and Israelis, tells the story of a Palestinian spy who falls in love with an IDF officer. Asi (Yaniv Biton), who staffs the checkpoint Salem must pass through every day to get to work, tells Salem that the show's military dialogue is unrealistic, and writes his own script. Salem uses Asi's dialogue in the show, which impresses the producers and the star, Tala (Lubna Azabal), and leads to Salem being suddenly promoted to fulltime screenwriter. There is only one problem: Salem cannot write screenplays, and must quickly learn.
To avoid getting fired, Salem makes a deal with Asi, who helps him write in exchange for fine Palestinian hummus, and a promise that the series' plot will end with a wedding. Salem convinces the producers to conclude the show's season with a wedding, but the Palestinian investors demand that the spy sets off a bomb at the wedding, killing herself, the IDF officer, and his comrades.
Salem gets himself out of this bind by having Asi appear in the show as a character who breaks up the wedding before the bomb is detonated. This enables Tel Aviv on Fire to have a second season and Salem to remain employed. His continuing employment also resolves a secondary plotline where he is trying to win back his girlfriend, Maryam (Maisa Abd Alhady), who accuses him of being unreliable and unable to keep a job.

## Cast

| Name | Role | Details |
| Kais Nashef | Salem Abbas | Soap opera production assistant |
| Yaniv Biton | Asi Tsur | Checkpoint officer |
| Maisa Abd Alhady | Maryam | Salem's ex-girlfriend |
| Lubna Azabal | Tala | Soap star |
| Salim Dau [fr; he] | Atef | |
| Nadim Sawalha | Bassem | Salem's uncle and producer of Tel Aviv on Fire |
| Laëtitia Eïdo | Maisa | |

## Reception
### Box office

Tel Aviv on Fire grossed $0.5 million in North America and $1.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.7 million.

### Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 90% based on 61 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Thoughtful and well-acted, Tel Aviv on Fire highlights the awful absurdity of war -- and proves it's possible to find humor in the midst of cultural conflict." On Metacritic, the film has a normalized score of 70 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

### Awards

| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
| 2018 | Venice Film Festival | Best Actor (Orizzonti section) | Kais Nashef | Won |
| 2018 | Haifa International Film Festival | Best Film | Tel Aviv on Fire | Won |
| 2018 | Haifa International Film Festival | Best Screenplay | Samah Zouabi | Won |
| 2018 | Toronto International Film Festival | World Contemporary Cinema | Tel Aviv on Fire | Nominated |
| 2018 | Asian Pacific Screen Awards | Best Screenplay | Dan Kleinman and Sameh Zoabi | Won |
| 2019 | Seattle International Film Festival | Best Film | Tel Aviv on Fire | Won |
| 2019 | Israeli Academy Awards | Best Narrative Film | Tel Aviv on Fire | Nominated |
| 2019 | Israeli Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Yaniv Biton | Nominated |
| 2019 | Israeli Academy Awards | Best Original Screenplay | Sameh Zoabi | Won |
| 2019 | Israeli Academy Awards | Best Casting | Galit Eshkol | Nominated |
| 2019 | European Film Academy Award | Best European Comedy | Tel Aviv on Fire | Nominated |
| 2020 | Magritte Award | Best Foreign Film in Coproduction | Tel Aviv on Fire | Nominated |
| 2020 | Magritte Award | Best Actress | Lubna Azabal | Nominated |

## Production

The film is a Luxembourg-Israel-France-Belgium co-production, and received funding from the Luxembourg Film Fund, the Israel Film Fund, YES Israeli Films, Gesher Multicultural Film Fund and Mifal Hapais.