AILSA CHANG, HOST:
There is a provocative new film in theaters in Israel. It takes a hard look at Israeli life during the Gaza War. One of Israel's most provocative performers is in the starring role. NPR's Daniel Estrin met him in Tel Aviv.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: The feature film "Yes!" opens on a wild party in Israel during the Gaza war.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BE MY LOVER")
LA BOUCHE: (Vocalizing).
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM "YES!")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters) Whoo.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BE MY LOVER")
LA BOUCHE: (Vocalizing).
ESTRIN: The film is about two Bohemian artists critical of Israel's government who sell out and join the mainstream after the Hamas attack, October 7, 2023. They begin to entertain Israeli soldiers and high-end clients. Actor Ariel Bronz stars in the film as one of the artists.
ARIEL BRONZ: After the 7 of October, they decide to stop being avant-garde artists, and they start to be entertainers/clowns in order to survive in this place.
ESTRIN: That place is a country overwhelmed by trauma and rage as it goes to war in Gaza. Many Israeli artists rallied around the flag and performed for the troops. Today, Israel is fighting off accusations it committed genocide in Gaza, and Israel's film industry faces a boycott by thousands of international film professionals.
BRONZ: There are very few artists left in Israel who dare to speak if you are against occupation, against genocide, so you will become isolated. You become enemy of state.
ESTRIN: Bronz is 41, with frizzy black hair. He's been on the radical fringe of Israeli art for years.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BRONZ: (As character, shouting in non-English language).
ESTRIN: When he performed this political satire 10 years ago, playing the role of an Israeli nationalist supremacist, his progressive Israeli audience didn't realize it was satire and booed him off the stage.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED AUDIENCE MEMBER #1: (Shouting in non-English language).
UNIDENTIFIED AUDIENCE MEMBER #2: (Shouting in non-English language).
UNIDENTIFIED AUDIENCE MEMBER #1: (Shouting in non-English language).
BRONZ: It became a pretty huge uproar. They turned off the lights. They turned off the sound system.
ESTRIN: So in protest, on stage, he stuck an Israeli flag in his rear end. That landed him a police interrogation and a lot of headlines. At a theater festival a few years ago, audience members canceled their tickets to his show.
BRONZ: I became very much isolated from the Israeli art scene because nobody wanted to be known as person that gave a stage to this monster.
ESTRIN: But now Ariel Bronz is in the spotlight with the new film, and he was nominated best actor at Israel's Academy Awards a few months ago for his role.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Ariel Bronz, "Ken!"
(APPLAUSE)
ESTRIN: He didn't win, but that very night after the award ceremony, police detained him for a poem he wrote on Facebook. Bronz says his poem protested state violence. Police said it called to murder the prime minister. He's waiting to see if the authorities press charges.
BRONZ: My, like, levels of paranoia and suspicion got really higher than it was before, but on the other hand, I'm much more motivated.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BRONZ: (Speaking Hebrew).
ESTRIN: Bronz recited the poem at a one-man show in Tel Aviv recently. He wore leggings decorated with an image of a gun. He recited another poem, full of grotesque satire.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BRONZ: (Singing in Hebrew).
ESTRIN: (Singing) "I love my weapon."
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BRONZ: (Singing in Hebrew).
ESTRIN: "I love to clean it, to oil it, to stick a ramrod through it."
It's fringe art that attracts a niche Israeli audience.
JENYA MALEY: He's not afraid. He's just not afraid.
ESTRIN: That's Jenya Maley, a filmmaker.
MALEY: Most of the artists are basically in denial of the genocide in Gaza, in denial of the reality of what we did. He puts a mirror in front of the Israeli society.
SHIRA ARAD: It's like making art as a way to resist.
ESTRIN: That's Shira Arad, a film editor.
ARAD: We are so extremely lucky to still have artists like him here because he's our voice.
ESTRIN: Some Israeli artists who oppose their government have moved abroad. Ariel Bronz says he's staying put and will keep pushing the boundaries of art in Israel.
Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
(SOUNDBITE OF CITY OF THE SUN'S, "NASCOSTO NEL MONDO") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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