Oriented
- Director: Jake Witzenfeld
- Producer: Yoav Birenfeld
CGiii Comment
Khader, Fadi and Naim, gay Palestinian men and, their straight girl friend Nagham all have something to say about Palestine and Israel.
They are angry, quite rightly - so, they make camp videos about their frustrations.
The only thing is - by the way of the snippets shown - they are not very good...and duly receive some fervent criticism.
The rest of the film is made up of each of them telling their 'gay' stories - it's a mixture of rejection and acceptance...the usual.
Unimaginatively filmed, unimaginatively told - surely, with such rich pickings, the director could have yielded a far better film than this!
Instantly forgettable.
Trailer...
ORIENTED Official Trailer (2015) from Jake Witzenfeld on Vimeo.
The(ir) Blurb...
Khader adjusts the key-shaped pendant on his necklace as he prepares himself for a video shoot. He ropes in his three best friends to help out: Fadi and Naim, both gay Palestinian men like himself, and their trusted straight girl conspirator Nagham. Using a dilapidated house in Tel Aviv as their setting — probably abandoned by Arabs like themselves years ago — they attempt to express the fear and indignation they feel towards the increasingly antagonistic Jewish-majority city. Filmed in the lead-up to the 2014 Israeli-Gaza conflict, director Jake Witzenfeld chronicles each man’s personal dilemma, which brings up issues of filial (and national) piety to the violence around them. While Khader contemplates leaving the country for good, Fadi lays a guilt trip on him and calls him a “quitter”. Through the familiarity of friends and gossip, confessions and “real talk”, Witzenfeld recalls the greater conflict at play, questioning just how long politics will take to catch up to life.