Israel / France 2024, 80 min, Hebrew, Arabic and English, Hebrew & English subtitles
When Bashir, a 75-year-old artist, watches the film Rambo III, he sees much more than Sylvester Stallone fighting against the Soviets in Afghanistan. In the mute and grainy desert background, Bashir sees the Negev Desert in the south of Israel and a document of his dispossessed tribal land. In the 1980s, he was hired to make the special effects for Rambo III. Today, Bashir returns to the desert film locations, where he finds material remnants and ruins left behind in the sand.
Under a Blue Sun tells how desert lands were converted into military training zones and adopted as locations for big-budget action films. It is about the imaginaries projected onto the surface of the desert land and the possibility of finding a Rambo for the Bedouins.
Previous Festivals: Visions Du Reel, Rotterdam Film Festival, Cinema Du Reel
Cinema Current Events Depth of Field Competition Israeli
Production: Itai Tamir, Christophe Gougeon, Fabrizio Polpettini
Production Company: Laila Films, La Bete, Acqua Alta
Script: Daniel Mann
Editing: Simon Birman
Cinematography: Itay Marom
Sound Design: Sebastien Crueghe
Supporters & Broadcasters:
The New Fund for Cinema and TV, Yehoshua Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts, Arte