Coexistence, My Ass!

Recipient of a 2024 JFI Completion Grant
2024 Envision Award for the film’s singular ability to envision a world free of prejudice and hate.

Noam Shuster Eliassi has spent her life navigating the tumultuous terrain of her society, using humor to force her fellow Israelis to examine the fundamental injustices underlying their country’s policies. But even a lifetime of joint struggle with her Palestinian friends and neighbors didn’t prepare her for the tragedy of October 7th and the horrific war that ensued.With hatred and violence turbo-charged like never before, where does she go from here?

Coexistence, My Ass! spotlights the Middle East conflict with a healthy dose of humor, offering an entirely new perspective on the struggle for justice and equality in the most divided land in the world.

Description provided by grantee.

Amber Fares is an award-winning documentary filmmaker best known for her directing debut Speed Sisters (HotDocs, 2015), which aired internationally on Netflix, Al Jazeera, and RAI, her subsequent credits include We Are Ayenda (WhatsApp/Amazon) which won the Best Director at the Sundance Brand Storytelling conference. She also directed an episode of Gutsy (AppleTV, 2022), Reckoning with Laughter (AJ Witness), was a co-director on CONVERGENCE: Courage Under Crisis (Netflix). She was a Supervising Producer on an episode of America Inside Out with Katie Couric (National Geographic), and a Co-Producer and Cinematographer on the Peabody-winning The Judge (PBS). Amber was a Sundance Momentum Fellow and Sundance Editing and Story Lab Fellow, and is based in New York.