David & Fatima | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Alain Zaloum |
Produced by | Tammi Sutton |
Written by |
Kari Bian Alain Zaloum Patrick Krauss Randala |
Starring |
Cameron Van Hoy Danielle Pollack Martin Landau Tony Curtis |
Music by | Michael J. Lloyd |
Cinematography | Neil Lisk |
Edited by |
Richard Francis-Bruce Kimberly Generous White |
Release date
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
David & Fatima is a 2008 drama film about a Palestinian woman and Israeli man from Jerusalem who fall in love. The film is a retelling of William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, and was directed by Alain Zaloum, and stars Cameron Van Hoy, Danielle Pollack, Merik Tadros, Anthony Batarse, Ismail Kanater, Sasha Knopf, John Bryant Davila, Ben Kermode, Allan Kolman Tony Curtis and Martin Landau. This was the last fictional movie Tony Curtis starred in.
The film encourages Arab Israeli peace.
Kari Bian, the executive producer and one of the writers, is an Iranian American living in Malibu, California. He recalled that he encountered hostility during a visit to Israel. Tavia Dautartas, the other producer, is also a Malibu resident. Alain Zaloum, the director and the other writer, is a Cairo-born Copt who during childhood moved to Canada. He had graduated from the film school of the University of Southern California (USC). Bian selected Zaloum because Zaloum was not Jewish nor was he Muslim, since Bian did not want to give favoritism to either side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Zaloum was the seventh director that had been hired; the producers fired the previous six choices for director.Richard Francis-Bruce did editing work.
The film was almost completely shot in Los Angeles, and shooting took place for five weeks. Tim Worman, the art director, developed areas to appear like the film's settings. Some exterior shots were actually made in Israel. Dialect coaches trained the actors. In addition the actors read history texts about the conflict region. The film's budget was $600,000 ($667418.86 adjusted for inflation).