Bold and cerebral, Lapid’s political drama brings insight into the ethnic and socioeconomic discord within the Israeli society.
Yaron stands in the centre of a group of elite policemen, belonging to the Israeli Anti Terrorist unit. He and his fellow unit members are the weapon; the gun the state is pointing at its opponents, the 'Arab enemy'. Yaron worships his unit, the male comradery, his muscular body. Yaron’s personal life is also very exciting, his wife is expecting their baby very soon; he could become a father any minute. What’s more, he has to rise to a professional challenge: his conception of the world is called into question by an encounter with a radical, violent group of protesters. He realises that a war is being waged in his homeland that has nothing to do with Palestinians.
»In the 60s and 70s, when political terrorism rose in Western Europe, Israel was socialist, basically egalitarian. Today, Israel has the widest economical gaps in the Western world. Class conflicts are shadowed by the conflict with the common enemy – the Palestinians. But, below the surface, boil a rage and a feeling of abuse. In The Policeman, they mature to an eruption, strangled by a force greater than itself. I tried to create a collision between two groups, each an expression of one of the conflicts – the national and the socio-economical.” (Nadav Lapid)
Nadav Lapid
Born in 1975 in Tel Aviv, Israel. He studied philosophy and history, and worked as a sports and culture journalist, television critic and documentary cinematographer. He also wrote Keep on Dancing, a collection of short stories. Lapid directed several short films while studying at the Sam Spiegel Film School, which screened in Cannes, Berlin and Locarno. Policeman marks his feature film debut.