Noam Shuster Eliassi grew up as a poster child for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process before turning her attention to stand-up comedy and political satire. But as the region sinks deeper into devastating violence, she must confront the situation and confront her audience with hard truths that are no laughing matter.
“Coexistence, My Ass!” follows Israeli activist and comedian Noam Shuster Eliassi as she creates her comedy show of the same name. Filmed over a turbulent five-year period, the documentary traces Noam’s personal, professional, and political journey against the backdrop of the region’s steadily deteriorating situation.
Raised in the bilingual Israeli-Palestinian village of Wahat al-Salam – Neve Shalom (Oasis of Peace), a deliberately integrated community, Noam increasingly loses faith in traditional peace activism. She turns to stand-up comedy and quickly gains attention throughout the Middle East. But as her star rises, everything around her collapses. With biting satire, Noam confronts her audience with difficult truths that are not always funny, but remind us that another reality is possible.
Title: Coexistence, My Ass!
Directed by: Amber Fares
Screenplay: Amber Fares
Produced by: Amber Fares, Rachel Leah Jones
Cast: Naom Shuster Eliassi u.a.
Cinematography: Philippe Bellaïche, Amber Fares, Amit Chachamov
Edited by: Rabab Haj Yahya
Music: William Ryan Fritch
Genre: Dokumentarfilm
Production company: My Teez Productionn (US), Little Big Story (Fr), u.a.
Country of production: USA, Frankreich
Year of production: 2025
Languages: Englisch, Hebräisch, Arabisch, Farsih
Subtitles: Deutsch, Englisch
Rating : PG6 (German rating: FSK12 (requested)
Length: 95 Minuten
Apect ratio: 16:9
Projection format: DCP (DCI 2K Flat)
Resolution: 1998×1080
Sound: 5.1 (DCP) / 2.0
Premiere:
January 26, 2025
Sundance Film Festival
Distribution (G / A / S): UCM.ONE
Distribution label: NONFY Documentaries
Theatrical release: February 5, 2026
“I didn’t plan to become a filmmaker. I had completed an MBA and was on my way to a career in marketing when September 11, 2001 happened and my life took a different turn. While filming SPEED SISTERS, I lived in the West Bank for seven years. I mainly immersed myself in the lives of Palestinians under occupation, but I also met some Israelis who were fighting to end the occupation. I met some at weekly protests in the West Bank, others at parties in West Jerusalem. Noam Shuster was different. I met Noam in a bar in Ramallah, where she was with her Palestinian friends and spoke Arabic much better than I did.
Noam has unique qualities that I have seen in very few people. She has the ability to move seamlessly between groups that seem to exclude each other. She is able to take on multiple perspectives on reality, rejects either/or narratives, and does not lose sight of what is most important. She tells the truth to power in three different languages. And she is really funny.
I began filming Noam in 2019 when she moved to Boston to establish her one-woman show at Harvard. Since then, her journey has taken many surprising turns, as has our world. I accompanied her as she grappled with increasing attacks on dissenters from her own society and, of course, the near-total destruction of the Gaza Strip. It is her life’s work to use humor to get her audience to face these realities—and it has been an honor to accompany her on her journey.
Noam has impressed me because she is an inspiring role model for what is possible—a multilingual, multicultural citizen who shows solidarity with the oppressed, sees her future as linked to that of her Palestinian neighbors, and knows that true coexistence can only be based on justice and equality.”
On February 5, 2026, UCM.ONE will release Amber Fares’ award-winning documentary “Coexistence, My Ass!” in theaters in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The film documents the journey of Israeli comedian and activist Noam Shuster Eliassi over several years and shows how political humor, personal conviction, and social reality are increasingly merging. The film celebrated its world…
The documentary “Coexistence, My Ass!” has been shortlisted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the 2026 Oscar® shortlist in the category “Documentary Feature Film”. Congratulations to Amber Fares, Rachel Leah Jones and the whole film team as well as to the protagonist Noam Shuster Eliassi! “Coexistence, My Ass!” accompanies the Israeli…
