{"id":115846,"date":"2024-09-21T17:00:40","date_gmt":"2024-09-21T15:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=115846"},"modified":"2024-09-17T08:44:51","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T06:44:51","slug":"21-00-99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=115846","title":{"rendered":"Anti-Israel Protesters Storm Screening of Israeli Film at Toronto Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Anti-Israel Protesters Storm Screening of Israeli Film at Toronto Festival<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Shiryn Ghermezian<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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A scene from \u201cBliss (Hemda).\u201d Photo: TIFF<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Anti-Israel protesters interrupted a screening of an Israeli film at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Wednesday by demonstrating on stage before the show began and also chanting against the Jewish state outside the theater where the screening took place.<\/span><\/p>\n

The film\u00a0\u201cBliss (Hemda)\u201d<\/a>\u00a0made its international premiere at the film festival. Before its screening began inside the TIFF Lightbox Cinema, a small group of approximately four protesters\u00a0jumped on stage<\/a>\u00a0and shouted slogans against Israel, including \u201cFree Palestine\u201d as well as \u201cFrom the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,\u201d which is widely interpreted as a call for the destruction of Israel, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.<\/span><\/p>\n

The protesters told the audience \u201cShame on all of you,\u201d shouted multiple false claims, and held banners about Israel committing \u201cgenocide\u201d against Palestinians, according to a video from the scene obtained by Israel\u2019s N12. Another demonstrator introduced the group as \u201ca coalition of Jewish people, filmmakers [and] artists and we say no to genocide.\u201d They continued to protest while being escorted off the stage and out of the theater by security personnel.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the protesters were led out of the theater, the audience began chanting \u201cBring them home,\u201d calling for Hamas to release the 101 hostages that remain in captivity in Gaza since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel. The screening then proceeded as planned.<\/span><\/p>\n

Outside the TIFF Lightbox Cinema,\u00a0protesters chanted<\/a>\u00a0\u201cFree Palestine,\u201d against falsely accused Israel of genocide, held Palestinian flags, and raised anti-Israel posters, including one that said \u201cBoycott Israel.\u201d Another sign said \u201cTurtle Island to Palestine, colonization is a crime,\u201d and a separate poster read: \u201cBliss normalizes Israel apartheid.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBliss\u201d is a drama about an older married couple \u2014 played by Sasson Gabay, from \u201cShtisel\u201d fame, and Asi Levi \u2013 confronting a number of challenges in their marriage, which is now intensified by the presence of two young men, who introduce new threats to their already fragile marriage. A synopsis of the film provided by TIFF stated that \u201cBliss\u201d was written and shot before the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, but \u201ccertain scenes touch lightly on interactions between Jewish and Arab culture and language in Israel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Hebrew and Arabic language film is directed by Shemi Zarhin, who was born in Tiberias and is now based in Tel Aviv. The director, who is also a screenwriter and novelist, has had previous films screened at TIFF. He told\u00a0The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>\u00a0that \u201cBliss\u201d was shot in locations across northern Israel that were later bombed and destroyed by Hezbollah missiles fired from southern Lebanon during the current Israel-Hamas war. A community center with a swimming pool that was a central location in the film was completely destroyed.<\/span><\/p>\n

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TIFF runs through Sept. 15, and \u201cBliss\u201d had a second screening at the film festival on Thursday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Watch a trailer for the film below.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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