'Fauda' writer, producer, create new show set in Jaffa

SeriesMania forum in France to also feature Israeli programs 'Autonomies,' 'Harem' and 'On the Spectrum.'

By AMY SPIRO
Updated: APRIL 1, 2018 21:37
Fauda (photo credit: COURTESY YES)
Fauda
(photo credit: COURTESY YES)
The men and women behind the TV global smash hit Fauda couldn’t be more busy. From cast to crew to creators, the team has been dipping into all sorts of projects.
And now, a writer and producer on the show are teaming up for a new TV series, this one set in Jaffa, according to an exclusive report in Variety.
Leora Kamenetzky and Liat Benasuly – who, in addition to Fauda have both worked on Kfulim (“False Flag”) and many other Israeli shows – are teaming up again for a series called District Y.
The duo will be pitching the new show at the SeriesMania project and talent forum in Lille, France, at the end of April, according to Variety. The show, written in Hebrew and Arabic, is described as “a high-voltage crime series set in Jaffa, a mixed Jewish and Arab city caught up in the politics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
Benasuly confirmed the news on her Facebook page. The series is being produced by Benasuly’s independent production company in cooperation with Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster.
Benasuly told Variety that the show was a mix between Fauda and The Wire, and it blurs the lines between the criminal and political issues in Jaffa.
Other Israeli series that will be taking part in SeriesMania this year are Autonomies, the show about an autonomous ultra-Orthodox enclave; On The Spectrum, about three young adults with autism; and Harem, the Reshet drama based on real-life cult leader and polygamist Goel Ratzon.
Fauda’s breakout star, Lior Raz, has been making serious inroads into Hollywood recently. He made his English-language debut earlier this year in Mary Magdalene, starring as a community leader alongside Rooney Mara’s Mary and Joaquin Phoenix’s Jesus. And later this year audiences can see Raz in Operation Finale, starring as Isser Harel, the director of the Mossad during the capture of Nazi mastermind Adolf Eichmann. That film, slated for release in September, also stars Oscar Isaac and Ben Kingsley.
After the wild success of Fauda on Netflix, the streaming giant also ordered two new shows from Raz and co-creator Avi Issacharoff. They do not yet have release dates.


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