Movies by Sameh Zoabi

Sameh Zoabi is a Palestinian Israeli filmmaker who has earned acclaim for his perceptive, wryly humorous explorations of the complexities of identity, culture, and politics in the Middle East. With a deft touch and a keen eye for the absurdities of everyday life, Zoabi crafts films that deftly balance laugh-out-loud comedy with poignant social commentary. His breakout feature, the 2012 comedy Man Without a Cell Phone, introduced audiences to Zoabi's singular voice, blending satire and heartfelt family drama as it followed a young Palestinian man navigating the clash between tradition and modernity in his village. Zoabi continued to hone his craft with the 2013 drama Under the Same Sun, which used the seemingly simple story of a joint Israeli-Palestinian business venture to explore the profound human costs of the ongoing conflict. Zoabi's most acclaimed work to date, the 2018 film Tel Aviv on Fire, solidified his reputation as a master storyteller. A clever, genre-blending tale of a Palestinian TV writer navigating the turbulent world of show business and the Israeli-Palestinian divide, the film was praised for its nuanced, even-handed approach, winning the Audience Award at the Venice Film Festival. With his ability to find the universal in the specific and to find humor in the most seemingly dire of circumstances, Sameh Zoabi has established himself as a vital, distinctive voice in world cinema.