‘We’re kind of similar’: Golda movie director compares protests in Iran, Israel

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli director Guy Nattiv compared the ongoing anti-government protests in Israel with the recent protests in Iran that were prompted by the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for not wearing a headscarf.

“Miraculously, you can see that in Israel and Iran the same kind of revolution was going on,” Nattiv told the AFP news wire.

“In Israel, it was against what Benjamin Netanyahu was doing against democracy. Millions of people were demonstrating, and women’s rights were also under attack. The government was so extreme,” he told the wire.

“We were kind of similar countries, going through the same process in a way,” noted Nattiv, who also directed the recently released “Golda,” about former prime minister Golda Meir.

Nattiv made his remarks from the Venice film festival, where the film “Tatami,” which he co-directed by with exiled Iranian actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi, was showcased.

“Tatami” tells the story of an Iranian judoka who defied her government’s rules about never facing an Israeli athlete in an international competition.

 

Iran has a history of banning athletes from competing against Israel in international tournaments, and judo is no different.

Iranian judoka Alireza Bahranifard fled to Germany last year after receiving threats over his friendly interactions with an Israeli judoka.