Cinema from the Spectrum

Coexistence, My Ass! is a documentary whose name takes itself from Noam Shuster-Eliassi’s own comedy routine of the same name, which has dealt with the nature of the relations between Israeli and Palestinian citizens. Of course, it’s very topical especially around now when the Israeli attacks on the Palestinian people has escalated to the degree in which it has following the October 7, 2023 attacks – but considering the fact that her journey talking about the conflicts which have arisen as a result of the present-day State of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land, it also makes a perfect case for her being a compelling subject too.

For those unfamiliar with her work, Noam Shuster-Eliassi is an Iranian-Jewish comedian and activist perhaps best known for a comedy routine called “Coexistence, My Ass!” where she challenges the notion that talking about the relations between Israeli and Palestinian people is “complicated.” But in fact, it’s not a story that begins out of the blue, because she had some sort of a revelation about what the Israeli government is doing to the Palestinian people, it came simply out of where her family had raised her. Having been brought up in an Israeli community shared by both Jewish and Arabic people by choice, it’s also become a very vital part in the formation of her own progressive worldview.

Obviously, with much of the film being built around how Shuster-Eliassi’s own progressive worldview was informed through the years, it fits that this whole film is structured so that it unfolds in front of our eyes together with one of her own routines. It also helps that Amber Fares presents this routine concurrently with her own story as it’s being told in front of our eyes, so that we get a better context for her own jokes – which aren’t just funny, but they’re also very insightful as someone who lives within the supposed middle ground that exists between Israelis and Palestinians.

Given the amount of insight that Shuster-Eliassi is able to present with regards to the ongoing occupation of Palestinian land by Israeli forces, one can also feel that this film makes the perfect case for how art can shape one’s worldview. But I think that with how Shuster-Eliassi is approaching comedy as a means of taking part in resisting against Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, I can’t help but also feel some disappointment in the fact that it ultimately feels like a diluted version of her own story on the whole. Thus it never really feels like it delves fully into how Shuster-Eliassi’s progressive stances had come about, instead leaving most of these observations feeling purely surface level.

There’s a bigger, more important conversation that one can only imagine that listening to Noam Shuster-Eliassi’s comedy routine would bring forth, especially as she’s maintained very steadfast in her beliefs after the October 7 attacks on Israel, which pushed even some of her more progressive leaning Israeli friends away. But at most, it only ever seems like these tidbits are introduced and then suddenly left out. Of course, this movie is centering itself around Shuster-Eliassi’s own story about how she had went on to adopt a progressive leaning mindset in the face of hatred and division as it keeps people whom she knows further away from one another – but this lack of a balance seems to do Shuster-Eliassi’s own beliefs no favours.

I think it only feels worth repeating that the work that Noam Shuster-Eliassi is doing here is remarkable. It’s remarkable because we’re seeing that she’s trying to challenge the idea that Israelis and Palestinians have to live in fear of one another, all because of the presently-ongoing occupation and the levels of violence to which it has escalated. But this approach that Amber Fares gives to Coexistence, My Ass! is one that never really seems to explore any of that in greater detail. There’s still a whole lot about the film as is that’s admirable, especially given how we’re given a better picture into how comedy can be used as a form of political resistance. But it never really becomes as incisive a portrait as you would hope, especially when Shuster-Eliassi’s insights help break down this idea that whatever’s going on between Israelis and Palestinians is “complicated.”

Watch the trailer right here.

All images via Little Big Story.

Directed by Amber Fares
Written by Rachel Leah Jones, Rahab Haj Yahya
Prodyced by Amber Fares, Rachel Leah Jones
Featuring Noam Shuster-Eliassi
Premiere Date: January 26, 2025
Running Time: 95 minutes