The Israeli government has frozen funding for an Arab theater that is presenting a play about a Palestinian prisoner who murdered an Israeli soldier.
The funding for the Al-Midan theater in Haifa was suspended on June 16 by the Ministry of Culture and Sport pending a review of the theater’s funding sources. Members of the ministry’s theater department visited the Al-Midan over the weekend, Haaretz reported.
Al-Midan has been under fire for its play “A Parallel Life,” which looks at a day in the life of the Palestinian prisoner.
Culture Minister Miri Regev said in the statement that she met with the family of Moshe Tamam, who was kidnapped and murdered in 1984, to tell them about the situation. The play is based on the story of Tamam’s killer.
Also on June 16, the Jerusalem International Film Festival decided not to screen a film about Yitzhak Rabin’s assassin at next month’s festival.
The decision came after Regev threatened to pull her ministry’s funding from the festival, which runs from July 9 to 19.
“Beyond the Fear” takes a fairly sympathetic look at Yigal Amir’s life in prison, where the 45-year-old is serving a life sentence for the 1995 slaying of the Israeli prime minister. The documentary film chronicles Amir’s relationship with Larissa Trimbobler, whom he married a decade ago and with whom he has a son.
The film was made by the Latvian Israeli director Herz Frank, who died two years ago during production. His wife, Maria Kravchenko, completed the film, which reportedly was included in the festival as a tribute to Frank. — jta