Figure–Ground

Tal Elkayam’s first feature-length documentary is an unorthodox exploration of the bizarre reality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: an associative compilation of found footage, composed entirely of excerpts from YouTube videos of the beach of Tel Aviv and the hills and valleys of the West Bank.

As bathers hurriedly seek shelter when the siren warns of missiles, soldiers on the other side clash with protesting Palestinians, and a bulldozer goes about its demolition work. An Israeli settler shows off his grapes, while elsewhere a Palestinian describes how his orchard was destroyed. Dogs harass a flock of sheep, dogs play on the beach. At times, protesters confront each other with Israeli and Palestinian flags.

In this energetic and apparently intuitive collage, two parallel realities full of staggering contrasts are juxtaposed, yet they are also inextricably linked. And not only because the poppies on the coast look just like the flowers growing in the hills.