It was a tumultuous week for Israel’s film industry. The Ophiel Award, the equivalent of the Oscar, was condemned by the Minister of Culture, Miki Zohar, after “The Sea” after the Palestinian boy won the Best Film on Tuesday evening. Just a few hours later, Nadab Rapid’s “Yes” star Ariel Bronz was detained the same night by police after questioning alleged instigation to commit terrorist acts due to a poem he posted on Facebook two months ago.
Speaking to Variety on Friday, Bronze said police rushed into his apartment in Tel Aviv at 4am and detained him in what he called a “cyber unit.” His provocative poem revolved around a bloody cycle, calling for the Prime Minister of Israel.
“Part of the deal that allowed me to be detained was that II had to erase the poem from the web and from my personal computer and my books,” he said. “They said that if I were to send a poem to someone, I would have to pay 10,000 shekels.”
He has said he has been known as a famous and destructive artist in conflict with the Israeli government for the past 14 years, so this was not the first time he has been detained. However, the timing of this arrest surprised him.
“It was a very strange timing because there was this ceremony and I was taken to the police a few hours later,” he says. The bronze also won several technical awards in the country’s “right-wing government was embarrassed by the fact that the ceremony and the film about Palestinian children won awards, so I was a simple target because they wanted to embarrass the left.” “Yes” also won several technical awards in the Ophiel.
Bronz was released by police after posting bail, but he must stand before the judge on suspicion of inciting to commit a terrorist act linked to his poem.
Meanwhile, Minister of Culture, Zohar has announced the launch of the “Israel Oscar Ceremony,” representing the official government-supported alternative to the Ophir Prize. He said, “The Israeli Film and Television Academy does not represent the majority of Israeli people and Israeli citizens, but instead served as a platform for extremists and paranoid voices about the ties of Israeli society that harm the structure of Israeli society.”
The Ophiel ceremony was highly politically charged. This is because several winners on stage urged the Israeli government to end the war in Gaza. Almost all of them wore black t-shirts with anti-war messages such as “children are children,” while others had photos of hostages.
While they struggle to maintain their independence and freedom of speech at home, the Israeli film industry also faces the threat of boycotts from the international community. Last week, around 4,000 entertainment industry names, including Hollywood stars such as Emma Stone and Joaquin Phoenix, signed a petition calling for a boycott of Gaza’s Israeli film agency.
But Bronz, nominated for his role in “Yes” at the Ophiel Awards, considers the film world to be one of the only places where Israelis and Palestinians hold hands and work peacefully.
“It’s pretty amazing. It’s like a utopia or an imaginary world where peace can occur,” he said.
“Yes” premiered in the World for two weeks with Cannes Director and opened in France on Wednesday.
