''Free Zone'' is a 2005 film directed by

Amos Gitai Amos Gitai () is an artist and an Israelis, Israeli filmmaker, born 11 October 1950 in Haifa, Israel. Gitai's work was presented in several major retrospectives in Pompidou Center in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Lincoln Center for ...

. Shot in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

, the Israeli- Belgian-

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

production stars Israeli Jewish actress

Hanna Laslo Hana Laszlo (; born 14 June 1953) is an Israeli actress, television presenter and comedian. In 2005, she won a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film '' Free Zone''. She has also received four Ophir Award nom ...

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

actress

Hiam Abbass Hiam Abbass (; ; born 30 November 1960), also spelled Hiyam Abbas, is a Palestinian actress and film director with Israeli and French citizenship. She is known for her roles in films such as ''The Syrian Bride'' (2004), '' Paradise Now'' (2005) ...

, and

Israeli-American Israeli Americans () are Americans who are of full or partial Israeli descent. The Israeli-American community, while predominantly Jewish, also includes various ethnic and religious minorities reflective of Israel's diverse demographics. This c ...

actress

Natalie Portman Natalie Hershlag{{efn, Some Hebrew sources claim that her birth name was "Neta-Lee Hershleg" ({{langx, he, נטע-לי הרשלג) and later, her first name was Americanized to "Natalie". {{Cite news , last=Shamir , first=Oron , date=August ...

. It is the second film of Gitai's "Border" or "Frontier" trilogy. The film made its debut at the

2005 Cannes Film Festival The 58th Cannes Film Festival took place from 11 May and ran until 22 May 2005. Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica served as jury president for the main competition. Cécile de France hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. Belgian filmmakers D ...

on May 19, 2005. It was released in Israel on June 9, 2005, and then appeared at numerous other film festivals throughout the rest of the year, with a limited release on December 16, 2005, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Plot

Rebecca (

) is a young American woman who has lived in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

for several months. She has just ended her marriage with a Jewish man, Breitberg, after he tells her of having raped a Palestinian woman while he was a soldier. Rebecca herself has a Jewish father but a gentile mother and so, despite her Jewish upbringing, is not considered a Jew according to religious tradition. Crying openly, Rebecca enters a tourist cab, driven by a Jewish Israeli woman, Hanna (

), who is the daughter of

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

survivors. Hanna's destination, to which Rebecca agrees to accompany her, is the free-trade zone or "Free Zone" near

's borders with

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

to collect money owed to her husband, who has recently been wounded in a rocket attack. Upon reaching the Free Zone, they meet up with Laila (

), a

woman who serves as the contact for Hanna's husband's

black market A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...

partnership with a man known as "the American." The three women set off on a tense journey to retrieve Hanna's money and to find the American's son, Walid, who may have absconded with the money. The film is bookended by a rendition of the traditional

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

song " Had Gadya", performed by

Chava Alberstein Chava Alberstein ( , born 8 December 1946 in Poland) is an Israeli musician, lyricist, composer, and musical arranger. She moved to Israel in 1950 and started her music career in 1964. Alberstein has released over sixty albums in Hebrew, Englis ...

. The song "Ain Ani" by Shotei Hanevua also plays in the taxi at the end of the film.

Cast

as Rebecca. Partly Israeli, partly American, she left

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to live in

but has no family of her own there. *

as Hanna. After being expelled from Sinai, she established with her husband in the

Negev The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

. *

as Leila. A Palestinian

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

, rejected by her own son for her modern mores. *

Carmen Maura María del Carmen García Maura (born 15 September 1945) is a Spanish actress. In a career that has spanned six decades, she has starred in films such as '' Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'', '' ¡Ay Carmela!'', '' Common Wealth'', an ...

as Mrs. Breitberg. The mother of Julio. In the final cut, she only appears in a superimposed flashback. *

Makram Khoury Makram Jamil Khoury (, ) is an Israeli-Arab actor, born 30 May 1945 in Jerusalem. He was the youngest artist and the first Arab to win the Israel Prize, the highest civic honor in Israel. Biography Makram J. Khoury was born into a Palestin ...

as Samir, the American. A Palestinian orphan who was a refugee in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Now living as a car trader in a Free Zone

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Aki Avni Yitzhak "Aki" Avni (; born ), is an Israeli actor, entertainer and television host. He appeared in the movie '' Free Zone'' (2005). He also played the character Mohsen in the second season of the television series '' 24''. Early life and marriage ...

as Julio. Rebecca's former fiancé of

-Jewish origin. They separated after he told her that he had raped a Palestinian refugee during a military operation. * as military officer in the border with Jordan.

Reception

''Free Zone'' received negative reviews from critics. Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reports that 26% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 46 reviews, with an average score of 5/10. The website's consensus reads, "The symbolism in this cinematic metaphor on conflicts in the Middle East becomes so overbearing that it's hard to care about the characters or their plight."

Awards

In the

won the Best Actress award, and the film was nominated for the

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

. The president of the jury said afterward he considered honoring all three ''Free Zone'' actresses with an award for best ensemble acting.

Controversy

During filming at

Western Wall The Western Wall (; ; Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: ''HaKosel HaMa'arovi'') is an ancient retaining wall of the built-up hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. Its most famous section, known by the same name ...

on February 23, 2005, the

Israeli police The Israel Police (; ) is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism. It is under the jurisdiction o ...

asked actors and film crew to leave after protests from

Orthodox Jews Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tr ...

who were praying there while the crew filmed a kissing scene between Natalie Portman and Israeli actor

Aki Avni Yitzhak "Aki" Avni (; born ), is an Israeli actor, entertainer and television host. He appeared in the movie '' Free Zone'' (2005). He also played the character Mohsen in the second season of the television series '' 24''. Early life and marriage ...

. The scene was not included in the final cut of the film.

References

External links

''Free Zone'' – Amos Gitai
official site (interview with director) *
Compilation of reviews
on ''Free Zone'' site
''Free Zone'' images
on NataliePortman.com fansite * Stephen Holden (April 7, 2006).

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

(April 7, 2006). {{Amos Gitai 2005 films Israeli drama road movies 2000s drama road movies 2000s English-language films English-language Israeli films English-language Belgian films English-language French films English-language Spanish films 2000s Hebrew-language films Films directed by Amos Gitai Films set in Israel Films shot in Israel 2005 drama films 2005 multilingual films Israeli multilingual films BAC Films films