Behind the divided territory of Israel and Palestine, Out In The Dark is the story of two young gay men. Nimr is a talented psychology student at a university on the West Bank who has been granted a permit to attend a class at an Israeli university. Nimr has a secret he cannot share with his family and friends, and while on the Israeli side of the wall meets a young lawyer, Roy, at a gay club and a love affair ensues. The tensions, both personal and political, of the two communities are exposed, together with deeply held prejudices. An interesting take on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Cert 15)
Dir: Michael Mayer 96mins Israel/Palestine/US 2012
to be shown with A TRIP TO THE MOON (Cert U) 13 min
Programme Notes
Out in the Dark
Israel/Palestine/USA 2012 96m Cert 15
Nimr is a West Bank Palestinian who slips into Tel Aviv and becomes the lover of Jewish Israeli, Roy. The different tensions with each set of parents are clearly portrayed and the plot-line occasioned by Nimr’s contacts attracting the attentions of the police makes the film into something of a thriller.
“As you watch it, Out in the Dark doesn’t feel particularly daring but that speaks more of a Western audience’s acclimatised attitudes to this type of narrative. Director Michael Mayer and his co-writer Yael Shafrir may follow familiar modes of storytelling but this merely highlights how normal a story like this should be in a country where homosexuality is as contentious an issue as the internal religious divide. Beautifully photographed, strongly performed and gently captivating, Out in the Dark is as good a summation of modern gay cinema as you’re likely to find” – David William Upton, www.sosogay.co.uk
Nicholas Jacob – Nimr Mashrawi
Michael Aloni – Roy Schaefer
Jamil Khoury – Nabil Mashrawi
Alun Pdut – Gil
Laoi Nofi – Mustafa Na’amne
Khawlah Hag-Debsy – Hiam Mashrawi
Director – Michael Mayer
Writers – Michael Mayer, Yael Shafrir
Cinematography – Ran Aviad
Music – Mark Holden, Michael Lopez
Editor – Maria Gonzales
Art Direction – Sharon Eagle
To be shown with A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune)
France 1902 13mins Cert U
Directed by Georges Méliès (born 1861), one of the most famous film-makers in cinema history, and created six years after the invention of cinema, “ … this is where narrative cinema truly began. Six members of the Astronomers’ Club [are] fired into space by a giant cannon … ” – Park Circus.com. The film was considered lost until in 1993 it was rediscovered in Catalonia and subsequently lovingly restored.
Comments
A TRIP TO THE MOON (short)
“Fantastic – let’s see it again next year!”
“A hidden jewel”
“An excellent artefact that remains essential viewing for anyone interested in cinema. Whilst this restored print may alienate those who don’t like Air’s ambient take on the soundtrack, newcomers can enjoy this colourised version and appreciate the imaginative sets.”
“Amazing to see such ideas and new concepts all together. Some famous images.”
“Amazing for its time – liked the soundtrack.”
“One small coloured frame, one giant leap for cinematography”
“Soundtrack good”
“Fascinating and fun in equal measure”
“A fascinating historical artefact”
“Interesting”
“I fell asleep, so won’t comment.”
OUT IN THE DARK (feature)
“A staggering film! Tensions displayed with beauty, fear, anxiety …”
“Excellent and thoughtful – well acted and exciting”
“Powerful film, with complexities we don’t know too much about.”
“Powerful, well constructed drama. Casting good.”
“Scarily tense and believable”
“A gripping, sad but excellent film”
“Heartbreaking”
“Made Britain seem liberal and enlightened.”
“Good film. Shame there was no definite happy ending but I guess that’s life ….”
“Better than I expected and gave a bit of an insight into life in Tel Aviv.”
“Entertaining once it had decided it was not a gay melodrama but a political thriller.”
“Beautiful and touching but sometimes unnecessarily drawn out.”
“Plot interesting but slow moving from time to time.”
“Convincing film”
“Unconvincing – but I do know too much about gay Israeli culture. Intelligence would have tapped plans and located him by his ‘phone, so he would never have got away.”
“Far too long and repetitive”