Noam Shuster Eliassi is an Israeli comic who speaks Arabic, an activist who left the political podium for the beer- soaked microphones of the stand- up circuit. She has been in the business of peace for years, a journey that started with an upbringing in the only intentionally integrated Israeli – Palestinian village in the country, and led her to working for the United Nations. Feeling that she wasn’t able to make enough of a difference, she turned to the arts as many have before, but more unusually her medium became stand- up comedy.
The best kind of comedy sits at the vanguard of political discourse, and is as unsettling and demanding of self- reflection as it is funny, the comedians acting as warriors for humanity in the gruff and dimly lit basement bars that host them.
As we see in the film, such comedy is a rare find. All too often comics, regardless of the culture, revert to little more than slapstick and well trodden tropes. The film shows it’s often the same in Israel until Noam Shuster Eliassi arrives on the scene, and the camera follows her as she starts carving out a name for herself, and having more reach and influence than in all the years of her previous career.
She’s consistently charming and funny, bouncing back from the slings and arrows thrown her way in the backlash, seemingly unbreakable, and bolstered by the massive support she receives across the Arab world, until till she too is broken by the unimaginable horrors unleashed by the October 7th attacks.
A comedy night set is used as a clever backbone to the film, cutting back to see her calm and commanding on stage, and always asking the audience to never look away and find their own resistance.
Premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2025
Won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Freedom of Expression at Sundance 2025.
Directed by Amber Fares
Screenwriters Rachel Leah Jones and Rabab Haj Yahya
Edited by Rabab Haj Yahya
Produced by Amber Fares, Rachel Leah Jones, Valérie Montmartin
Cinematography Amber Fares, Philippe Bellaïche, Amit Chachamov
Executive Produced by Ina Fichman, Jennifer Westphal, Joe Plumber, Libby Lenkinski, Alison Klayman
Produced by My Teen Production, Home Made Docs, and Little Big Story.
Starring Noam Shuster Eliassi
At Sundance, Coexistence My Ass! took home the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Freedom of Expression.
The jury citation at the ceremony was, “For showing us how to have a challenging conversation with humor and humanity, and for having the courage to say things others cannot.”
Irresistible caught up with the director Amber Fares and the star Noam Shuster Eliassi immediately after they won.
Amber Fares told us, “Sundance is such a great platform to launch the film. The reception has been overwhelming, we’re so happy to be getting so much support. Noam’s voice is just so important right now, and I’m so grateful she allowed me to follow her ass for five years.”
When we asked Noam Shuster Eliassi how she was feeling about her win she told us, “It’s been amazing and I’m very excited by the how the film is being received. I hope it will challenge people to have tough conversations, and I hope I will have a bigger stage to say the things that some people think are radical, but are not. I hope we can normalise the very very simple message of the film.”
