A smartly crafted, multi-layered satire about racial privilege, xenophobia and identity, Concerned Citizen centers on architect Ben (Shlomi Bertonov), who thinks of himself as a socially progressive, enlightened gay man. He’s built a dream apartment for himself and hunky boyfriend Raz (Ariel Wolf) in a gritty south Tel Aviv neighborhood that he hopes to help gentrify. He’s the type of guy who, if he overhears someone making racist comments at the gym, will politely and cautiously challenge them. But Raz’s desire for them to have a baby via a surrogate sends Ben into a neurotic spiral that’s made worse by his guilt over calling the police on an Eritrean neighbor. Filled with wry humor, the film calls to account characters who strive to maintain an open-minded, liberal exterior, but who are ultimately intolerant and selfish in their actions. The fact that the lead actors are a real-life couple and the action takes place in writer/director Idan Haguel’s former apartment boosts the authenticity factor. –Alissa Simon
Director Biography
Idan Haguel is an Israeli filmmaker and graduate of the Sapir College Film Department in Negev. He is the director of the feature films Inertia (2015) and Neve Shaanan (2021). Concerned Citizen (Ezrah Mudag) (2022) is his most recent film.