The Story

“Both humorous and explosive, The Cousin is a spirited take on an irrational divide.” — The Hollywood Reporter

Naftali, a liberal leaning actor, solicits the help of Palestinian labourer, Fahed, to patch up his crumbling studio. Later that day, rumours about a crime begin to circulate: and fingers immediately point to Fahed. Naftali wants to believe in Fahed’s innocence, but as the dubiousness of the community begins to wear Naftali down, his dormant, xenophobic attitudes cloud his best intentions.

Evoking some comparisons to Jordan Peele’s 2017 hit Get Out, The Cousin is both a darkly comical exploration of Arab-Israeli relations and a cautionary allegory about the fear of ‘the other’ which can so easily turn into racism.

The Cousin premiered at the 2017 Venice Film Festival in the Orizzonti section.