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
Written by: Rachel Leah Jones, Rabab Haj Yahya
Produced by: Amber Fares, Rachel Leah Jones, Valérie Montmartin (co-producer)
Protagonists: Naom Shuster Eliassi u.a.
Cinematography: Philippe Bellaïche, Amber Fares, Amit Chachamov
Edited by: Rabab Haj Yahya
Music: William Ryan Fritch
Genre: documentary
Production companies: My Teez Production, Home Made Docs, co-production company: Little Big Story.
Country of production: USA, France
Year of production: 2025
Languages: English, Hebrew, Arabic, Farsi
Subtitles: German, English
Rating : Approved for ages 12 and up
Descriptors: Violence, stressful topics
Length: 95 Minuten
Apect ratio: 16:9
Projection format: DCP (DCI 2K Flat)
Resolution: 1920×1080
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 set out to be a filmmaker. I completed an MBA and was on my way to a career in marketing when 9/11 happened and my life took a different turn. While I was making SPEED SISTERS I lived in the West Bank for 7 years. I was mainly immersed in Palestinian life under occupation, but I also met a few Israelis who were fighting to end the occupation. Some I met at weekly protests in the West Bank, others at parties in West Jerusalem. Noam Shuster was different. I met Noam at a bar in Ramallah hanging out with her Palestinian friends and speaking way better Arabic than I do.
Noam has unique qualities that I have seen in very few people. She has the ability to move seamlessly between groups that appear to be mutually exclusive. She is able to hold multiple perspectives on reality, refuses us-or-them narratives and doesn’t lose sight of what’s most important. She speaks truth to power in three different languages. And she is really funny.
I started filming with Noam in 2019 when she moved to Boston to build her one-woman show at Harvard. Her journey has taken many surprising turns since then, as has our world. I’ve followed her as she’s had to navigate growing attacks on dissent from her own society, and of course the near-total destruction of Gaza. Using humor to push her audiences to face these realities is her life’s mission — and it has been an honor to be on her journey with her.
I was drawn to Noam because she is an inspiring model for what could be — a multilingual, multicultural citizen standing in solidarity with the oppressed, who sees her future intertwined with that of her Palestinian neighbors, and who knows that real coexistence can only be premised on justice and equality.”
Noam Shuster Eliassi is an activist-comedian who writes and performs in Arabic, English and Hebrew (with a touch of Farsi), frequently touching upon her experience growing up in “Oasis of Peace” (Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam), a mixed community where Palestinians and Jews live together by choice.
Her satirical videos have gone viral throughout the Arab world. In 2019, Noam became the first Jewish performer to play the Palestine Comedy Festival. Her one-woman show “Coexistence, My Ass!” was developed at Harvard University and received a four-star review at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
© 2026 UCM.ONE / NONFY Documentaries
In our film talk for the theatrical release, film critic Christoph Terhechte (festival director of DOK Leipzig until January 31, 2026; previously director of the Berlinale Forum) talks to Amber Fares and Rachel Leah Jones about “Coexistence, My Ass!” – and how Noam Shuster Eliassi as the protagonist and her comedy carry a film that has been maturing for five years and will have to find new words after October 7, 2023. Fares describes how, as a long-time acquaintance, she began filming Noam at Harvard as she developed her one-woman show, without a finished dramaturgical plan; Jones describes the close on-site collaboration, the constant refinement of context and comprehensibility, and the strength of a diverse team spanning languages and perspectives. One thing is clear: the film dispenses with talking heads and turns Noam’s stage into a narrative machine – self-questioning, commentary, safe space and risk all at once. The radical nature of this principle is evident in the escalation of the present: comedy here is not an escape, but a method of keeping contradictions visible.
Amber Fares is an award-winning documentary filmmaker best known for her directorial debut “Speed Sisters” (Hot Docs, 2015), which aired internationally on Netflix, Al Jazeera and RAI. Her directing credits include “We are Ayenda” (Amazon, 2023), “Gutsy“, Ep.5 (Apple TV, 2022), “Reckoning With Laughter” (Al Jazeera’s “Witness,” 2021), “Convergence: Courage Under Crisis” (Netflix, 2021). Amber also served as cinematographer and co-producer of the Peabody Award-winning “The Judge” (PBS, 2017), was the cinematographer on “Life After” (Sundance 2025) and both produced and shot the short film “The Devil Is Busy” (HBO 2025). A Sundance Momentum Fellow and Pillars Artist Fellow, Amber is Canadian and currently based in New York.
Rachel Leah Jones is an award-winning nonfiction filmmaker whose critically acclaimed work has centered on Israel/Palestine and the interrelated struggles for social and political justice. She is best known for her films “Advocate” (Sundance, 2019), which won an Emmy for Best Documentary and was shortlisted for the Oscars; “Gypsy Davy” (Sundance, 2012); “Ashkenaz” (San Francisco Jewish FF, San Franciso Arab FF 2007); and “500 Dunam On The Moon” (Human Rights Watch, 2002). Based between Marseille and Tel-Aviv—Jaffa, Rachel is both American and Israeli and speaks English, Hebrew, Arabic, and French.
Rabab Haj Yahya is a documentary editor best known for Assia Boundaoui’s”The Feeling of Beeing Watched” (Tribeca, 2018 / POV, 2019), “Another Body” (SXSW, 2023), HBO’s “The Legend of the Underground” (Tribeca, 2021 / HBO), the Emmy-nominated “Apart” (Hot Docs, 2021) and Amber Fares’s “Speed Sisters” (2015). She is a Sundance Institute Documentary Edit and Story Lab advisor (2023) and has served as a mentor for the Documentary Contributing Editor Fellowship 2024, Brown Girls Doc Mafia, Chicken & Egg and the Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship 2022-2024. A Palestinian citizen of Israel and US citizen based in New York, Rabab is fluent in Arabic, Hebrew, and English.
Philippe Bellaïche is an award-winning cinematographer best known for “Advocate” (2019 Sundance, Winner of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and the Emmy Awards for Best Documentary and shortlisted for the Oscars), which he also directed and produced. His other credits include Avi Mograbi’s “Avenge but one of my two Eyes” (Cannes, 2005), Arnon Goldfinger’s “The Flat (Tribeca, 2012), Shimon Dotan’s “The Settlers” (Sundance, 2016) and Rachel Leah Jones’ “Gypsy Davy” (Sundance, 2012). Based between Marseille and Tel-Aviv—Jaffa, Philippe is both French and Israeli and speaks French, Hebrew, and English.
| WEEK 1 – from February 5, 2026 | ||
| GERMANY | ||
| Aachen | Apollo Kino (07.02.) | OV w/DE sub |
| Berlin | Delphi Lux | OV w/DE sub |
| Berlin | Hackesche Höfe Kino | OV w/DE sub |
| Berlin | Moviemento | OV w/DE sub, OV w/EN sub |
| Berlin | City Kino Wedding | OV w/DE sub, OV w/EN sub |
| Berlin | Sputnik Kino | OV w/DE sub, OV w/EN sub |
| Berlin | b-ware! Ladenkino | OV w/DE sub, OV w/EN sub |
| Bremen | Schauburg | OV w/DE sub |
| Düsseldorf | Metropol | OV w/DE sub |
| Erlangen | Lamm Lichtspiele (6.2., 7.2.) | OV w/DE sub |
| Hamburg | Abaton Kino | OV w/DE sub |
| Heidelberg | Gloria/Gloriette (08.02.) | OV w/DE sub |
| Kiel | Studio Filmtheater | OV w/DE sub |
| Leipzig | Schaubühne Lindenfels | OV w/DE sub |
| München | Werkstatt Kino | OV w/DE sub |
| Münster | Cinema & Kurbelkiste (07.02.) | OV w/DE sub |
| Nürnberg | Casablanca Filmkunsttheater | OV w/DE sub |
| AUSTRIA | ||
| Wien | Filmhaus Spittelberg (05.02.) | OV w/DE sub |
| SWITZERLAND | ||
| Bern | Cinématte (6.2., 8.2.) | OV w/DE sub |
| Frauenfeld | Cinema Luna (08.02.) | OV w/DE sub |
| Wädenswil | SchlossCinema (08.02.) | OV w/DE sub |
| ★ SPECIAL SCREENINGS | ||
| 10.02. Berlin | Moviemento (OV w/EN sub) | In cooperation with Interventionistische Linke Berlin and Israelis for Peace Tickets |
| 11.02. Berlin | Moviemento (OV w/EN sub) | Q&A with the filmmakers – Amber Fares and Rachel Leah Jones Tickets |
| WEEK 2 – from February 12, 2026 | ||
| GERMANY | ||
| Berlin | Il Kino | OV w/EN sub |
| Berlin | City Kino Wedding | OV w/DE sub, OV w/EN sub |
| Braunschweig | Universum Filmtheater | OV w/DE sub |
| Hillesheim | Eifel Filmbühne | OV w/DE sub |
| Leipzig | Schaubühne Lindenfels | OV w/DE sub |
| Rostock | Metropol | OV w/DE sub |
| Stuttgart | Delphi Arthaus Kino | OV w/DE sub, OV w/EN sub |
| AUSTRIA | ||
| Villach | Filmstudio im Stadtkino Villach | OV w/DE sub |
| SWITZERLAND | ||
| Bern | Cinématte (14.02.) | OV w/DE sub |
| Frauenfeld | Cinema Luna (15.02.) | OV w/DE sub |
| Wädenswil | SchlossCinema (12.02.) | OV w/DE sub |
| ★ SPECIAL SCREENINGS | ||
| 12.02. Berlin | City Kino Wedding (OV w/EN sub) | Q&A with the filmmakers – Amber Fares and Rachel Leah Jones Tickets |
| WEEK 3 – from February 19, 2026 | ||
| GERMANY | ||
| Essen | Filmstudio Glückauf (22.2., 23.2.) | OV w/DE sub |
| Freiburg | Kommunales Kino (20.02.) | OV w/DE sub |
| AUSTRIA | ||
| Villach | Filmstudio im Stadtkino Villach (19.02.) | OV w/DE sub |
| WEEK 4 – from February 26, 2026 | ||
| GERMANY | ||
| Freiburg | Kommunales Kino (27.02.) | OV w/DE sub |
| Mühlheim a.d. Ruhr | Rio Filmtheater (04.03.) | OV w/DE sub |
| WEEK 5 – from March 5, 2026 | ||
| GERMANY | ||
| Esslingen | Kommunales Kino Esslingen | OV w/DE sub |
| AUSTRIA | ||
| Baden | Cinema Paradiso | OV w/DE sub |
| St. Pölten | Cinema Paradiso | OV w/DE sub |
| SWITZERLAND | ||
| St. Gallen | Kinok Cinema in der Lokremise | OV w/DE sub |
| Uster | qtopia (08.03.) | OV w/DE sub |
UCM.ONE brings the internationally acclaimed documentary “Coexistence, My Ass!” by director Amber Fares to cinemas in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland from February 5, 2026, making one of the world’s most acclaimed documentaries of the year accessible to a wide cinema audience. On the eve of the theatrical release – on February 4, February 2026 at…
On February 5, 2026, UCM.ONE will release the award-winning documentary “Coexistence, My Ass!” by Amber Fares in theaters in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The film follows Israeli comedian and activist Noam Shuster Eliassi over several years and shows how political humor, personal attitudes, and social reality are becoming increasingly intertwined. The film celebrated its world…
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…
