Zaytoun (2012)

Beirut, 1982: a young Palestinian refugee helps an Israeli fighter pilot escape from PLO captivity because he wants to visit his ancestral family home. En route through war-torn Lebanon their relationship develops into a close bond.

Director:

Eran Riklis

Writer:

Nader Rizq

Stars:

Stephen Dorff, Abdallah El Akal, Alice Taglioni

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stephen Dorff	...	Yoni
Abdallah El Akal	...	Fahed (Ziko)
Alice Taglioni	...	Leclair
Loai Nofi	...	Aboudi (as Loai Noufi)
Tarik Kopty	...	Seedo (as Tarik Copti)
Johnny Arbid	...	Abu Fahed (as Joni Arbid)
Mira Awad	...	Im Ahmed
Eitan Londner	...	Ilan
Morad Hassan	...	Rami (as Morad Hasan)
Ashraf Farah	...	Khalid
Nidal Badarneh	...	Mustafa (as Nidal Badarni)
Adham Abu Aqel	...	Ahmed
Osamah Khoury	...	Hassan
Michel Khoury	...	Ali (as Michil Khoury)
Ali Suliman	...	Syrian Officer

Storyline

Beirut, 1982: a young Palestinian refugee helps an Israeli fighter pilot escape from PLO captivity because he wants to visit his ancestral family home. En route through war-torn Lebanon their relationship develops into a close bond.

---

Plot Keywords:

escape | lebanon | pilot | israeli | palestinian | 

---

Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Thriller | War

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

While not explicitly stated in the film, the word "zaytoun" is Arabic for "olive", and refers to the tree that Fahed carries.

---

Goofs

In the confrontation with the Syrian soldiers, Fahed runs to the Syrian vehicle carrying only his pistol. The next time he is seen at their vehicle, he now has his backpack on with his olive tree in it. There has been neither time nor opportunity for him to have collected these from the taxi.

---

Soundtracks

At The Border
Conducted by Peter Pejtsik
Music composed by Cyril Morin

User Reviews

Fine, but carries its message a little heavily

Eran Riklis likes stories in which a long, picturesque trip is paralleled by an inner journey of discovering the past, or the self. In Zeytoun, the trip is from Beirut across the border into Israel, and although I'm an Israeli who's never been to Lebanon, an aerial stock shot or two of Beirut was enough to sell me on the Lebaneseness of the locations seen in the first part of the movie, which were actually well-chosen sites in Israel. Unlike another viewer here on IMDb, I had little trouble accepting Stephen Dorff as an Israeli. Israelis come in all colors and sizes. Granted, his English was too good, but so was the Arab kid's. A brief sequence showing kids learning English verbs at school didn't really solve the problem. One makes allowances, though, when the visuals look realistic and the situation depicted is compelling, as here. My problem, and perhaps the problem of the Israeli public (which did not flock to see this movie), was that the audience is invited, a bit heavy-handedly, to sympathize with the Arab family's desire for repatriation to Israel without any balanced mention of the context in which such families found themselves outside Israel in the first place.

Details

Country:

UK Israel France

Language:

English Arabic Hebrew

Release Date:

20 September 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Zaytoun

Filming Locations:

Haifa, Israel

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,100, 22 September 2013

Gross USA:

$42,330

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$177,753

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bedlam Productions, Far Films, H.W. Buffalo & Co

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1