EXCLUSIVE: Comedian-activist Noam Shuster Eliassi has been pursuing a quixotic task: to find humor and humanity in the context of what is often reduced to a four-word shorthand, “the Israeli Palestinian conflict.” But if anyone can do it, she can.
Eliassi grew up in a bilingual Israeli Palestinian village, “the only intentionally integrated community in the country,” sometimes referred to as the “Oasis of Peace.” Her journey to create a one-woman comedy show is documented in Coexistence, My Ass!, set to make its world premiere on Sunday at the Sundance Film Festival. We have your first look at the film in the trailer above.
Any attempt to find comedy in that part of the Middle East, or even to support the principle of peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians, became immensely more difficult after the deadly October 7th sneak attack by Hamas and the subsequent Israeli retaliatory assault on Gaza that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
“Shot over five tumultuous years, the film traces Noam’s journey in tandem with the region’s steady deterioration,” notes a synopsis of Coexistence, My Ass! As Eliassi begins to perform her show in the region, “[she] quickly attracts attention across the Middle East. But as her star rises, everything around her falls apart. With biting, warm satire, Noam pushes her audiences to face difficult truths — and offers an inspiring model for the future.”
Director Amber Fares
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The film is directed and produced by Amber Fares, a Canadian filmmaker of Lebanese descent who is now based in New York. In a director’s statement, Fares comments that she lived in the occupied West Bank for seven years while making an earlier documentary, Speed Sisters. She recounts meeting Eliassi initially in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
“Noam has unique qualities that I have seen in very few people,” Fares writes. “She has the ability to move seamlessly between groups that appear to be mutually exclusive. She is able to hold multiple perspectives on reality, refuses us-or-them narratives and doesn’t lose sight of what’s most important. She speaks truth to power in three different languages. And she is really funny.”
Comedian-activist Noam Shuster Eliassi takes part in a demonstration
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Fares continues, “I started filming with Noam in 2019 when she moved to Boston to build her one-woman show at Harvard. Her journey has taken many surprising turns since then, as has our world. I’ve followed her as she’s had to navigate growing attacks on dissent from her own society, and of course the near-total destruction of Gaza. Using humor to push her audiences to face these realities is her life’s mission — and it has been an honor to be on her journey with her.
“I was drawn to Noam because she is an inspiring model for what could be — a multilingual, multicultural citizen standing in solidarity with the oppressed, who sees her future intertwined with that of her Palestinian neighbors, and who knows that real coexistence can only be premised on justice and equality.”
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Noam Shuster Eliassi will be attending Sundance, along with Fares, producer Rachel Leah Jones, and editor-writer Rabab Haj Yahya. The film’s executive producers include Ina Fichman, Jenifer Westphal, Joe Plummer, Libby Lenkinski, and Alison Klayman. Philippe Bellaïche serves as consulting producer and cinematographer, with additional cinematography by Fares and Amit Chachamov. Original music is by William Ryan Fritch.
Coexistence, My Ass! is premiering in World Cinema Documentary Competition. Along with Sunday’s debut, it will screen on Mon, Jan. 27; Wednesday, Jan. 29 (in Salt Lake City); Friday, Jan. 31, and Sunday, Feb. 2. A press and industry screening will be held on Monday, Jan. 27.
The documentary is an acquisition title at Sundance. Autlook Filmsales is handling sales.
Watch the trailer for Coexistence, My Ass! above.