Opening film IDFA in Groningen

Noam Shuster-Eliassi was once considered a figurehead for peaceful coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis. Now, at Harvard University, the thirty-something, who speaks fluent Arabic and Hebrew, is developing a biting one-woman comedy show.

As the daughter of an Iranian Jewish mother and a Romanian Jewish father, she grew up in Israel's “Oasis of Peace”, where Palestinians and Israelis live together in friendship. As a child, she appeared on television, shook hands with Hilary Clinton, Jane Fonda and the Dalai Lama, and was invited by the United Nations to speak.

But as the Israeli authorities pursue an increasingly radical course, her perspective begins to shift. How can there ever be peaceful coexistence when one group oppresses the other with such violence? The big blow, which makes Shuster realise once and for all that the pursuit of coexistence is little more than a bitter joke, is yet to come.

Meanwhile, at Harvard University, the thirty-something, who speaks fluent Arabic and Hebrew, develops a biting one-woman comedy show. With this satirical show as the common thread, we get a glimpse into the ideas of the activist comedian, who, according to some, has now become an “enemy of the state”.