Avanti Popolo

On 11 June 1967 the Six-Day War ended. A ceasefire began. Two Egyptian soldiers were left in the Sinai desert. They are called Gassan and Haled. The two try to reach the Suez Canal. The way is long and there is no water. They come across other people in the desert. Israeli soldiers cross their path. There is a news reporter as well. Haled is an actor by trade. What he had wanted was to play Shylock. He speaks that text in front of the soldiers. The scene turns into a statement about the pointlessness of war. The title comes from an Italian song, which soldiers from both sides sing together. It was Rafi Bukai’s first film and was shown at Locarno. Salim Daw and Suhel Haddad appear in the eighty four minute film, an Israeli production Rafi Bukai finished in 1986.