If you haven’t had your fill of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the nightly network news and other news shows spinning current affairs, fire up the movie player and insert Bethlehem, now on DVD from Adopt Films and Kino Lorber (2-28-14 AJW). The fictional narrative film by first-time director Yuval Adler follows the adventures of Sanfur (Shadi Mar’i), a teenage Palestinian informant, and his Israeli handler, Razi (Tsahi Halevi). After a bomb explodes on King George Street in Jerusalem, Razi’s superiors in Shin Bet apply pressure on him to find Sanfur’s older brother, a terrorist mastermind with the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Mayhem ensues in this gripping tale that exposes internecine rivalries within the cauldron of Middle East warfare. — M.S.
(American Jewish World, 8.29.14)
