Ahed's Knee

Ahed's Knee
Festival poster
Directed byNadav Lapid
Written byNadav Lapid
Produced byOsnat Handlesman-Keren
Talia Kleinhendler
Judith Lou Lévy
Ève Robin
StarringAvshalom Pollak
Nur Fibak
CinematographyShai Goldman
Edited byNili Feller
Production
companies
Les Films du Bal
Pie Films
Komplizen Film GmbH
Distributed byPyramide Distribution (France)
Release date
  • 7 July 2021 (2021-07-07) (Cannes)
CountriesIsrael
France
Germany
LanguageHebrew
Box office$219,878[1][2]

Ahed's Knee (Hebrew: הַבֶּרֶךְ, romanized: Habereḵ, lit. 'The Knee') is a 2021 internationally co-produced drama film directed by Nadav Lapid.[3] It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.[4][5] At Cannes, the film shared the Jury Prize with Memoria by Apichatpong Weerasethakul.[6][7]

Synopsis

The film's protagonist is "Y" (Avshalom Pollak), a film director working on a new film about Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi. While traveling to the Arava desert to screen one of his previous films, and as his mother is dying, the director meets Yahalom (Nour Fibak), a clerk from the Ministry of Culture. She demands he sign a politically controversial form that requires him to define his film's content using politically biased terminology reflecting right-wing worldviews. Y becomes close to Yahalom while simultaneously trying to use her to fight against the agenda she serves.

Cast

  • Avshalom Pollak as Y
  • Nur Fibak as Yahalom
  • Yoram Honig as the farmer
  • Yonathan Kugler as the young Y
  • Lidor Ederi as Narkis
  • Amit Shoshani as the fearful soldier
  • Yehonatan Vilozny as the sergeant
  • Naama Preis as the casting director
  • Ortal Solomon as Ahed 1
  • Mili Eshet as Ahed 2
  • Oded Menaster as Smotrich
  • Netta Roth as the young actor

Release

The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, it had its premiere on 7 July 2021 in the festival. It was also selected in 'Icon' section of 26th Busan International Film Festival and was screened in the festival in October 2021.[8] It was invited in the Soul of Asia section at the 52nd International Film Festival of India for screening in November.[9]

The film was inspired by the story of Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi.[10]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 75% of 59 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "An occasionally uneasy blend of human drama and message movie, Ahed's Knee forcefully reaffirms that the personal is political."[11] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 80 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[12]

References

  1. ^ "Ahed's Knee (2022)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Ahed's Knee (2022)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Ahed's Knee". Cinereach. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  4. ^ "Sean Penn, Wes Anderson, Ildikó Enyedi Join 2021 Cannes Lineup". The Hollywood Reporter. 3 June 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Cannes Film Festival 2021 Lineup: Sean Baker, Wes Anderson, and More Compete for Palme d'Or". IndieWire. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Cannes' Palme D'Or goes to Titane". Cineuropa. 17 July 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Cannes Film Festival 2021: Full Winners List". Asia Tatler. 18 July 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  8. ^ "2021 Program". BIFF. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  9. ^ "Come, Experience the "Soul of Asia" at IFFI 52; Six films under Soul of Asia film section to present the microcosm of the world's largest continent". PIB GOI. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2021 – via Press release.
  10. ^ Chang, Justin (31 March 2022). "Review: The brilliant, incorrigible 'Ahed's Knee' takes furious aim at contemporary Israel". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  11. ^ "Ahed's Knee". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  12. ^ "Ahed's Knee". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 19 April 2022.