BERLIN – At a crowded auditorium in the Zoo Palast theater at the Berlinale, an enthusiastic audience watched and applauded the first two episodes of the second season of the Israeli television show False Flag (known in Hebrew as Kfulim), as the cast and crew walked the red carpet and participated in a Q&A session following the screening.
The show was screened as part of Berlinale Series, a section for television series.
The second season of the show, which is available in Israel on Channel 2 and the Mako website, in the US on Hulu and in some countries on Fox, is a thriller about three people accused of participating in a terrorist attack – the detonation of explosives at the dedication of a joint Turkish/Israeli oil venture, which kills several people and wounds a female government minister clearly modeled on Culture Minister Miri Regev – and how the accusations against these seemingly model citizens affect their friends and families.
The stars playing the three accused – Moran Rosenblatt as a formerly ultra-Orthodox woman who is a lesbian and works for the oil company; Yousef “Joe’” Sweid, whose character’s cover is that he is in hi-tech; and Neta Riskin, supposedly an ordinary mom who works as a tour guide – were as dressed up as any movie stars, and fans came over asking for selfies following the screening. TV may be broadcast on small screens, but it has become big time.
The series creator, Maria Feldman, the writer, Leora Kamenetzky, and the director, Oded Ruskin, got just as many questions as the actors did. Asked whether the show is “a new Homeland,” Feldman replied that she took that as a compliment.
When the cast answered questions, the behind-the-scenes talent admonished them not to reveal any spoilers, so they ended up smiling and not saying much.
After the screening, the mostly German audience was buzzing about how they planned to watch the rest of the series. Several said they had enjoyed other Israeli series, such as Prisoners of War.