Director Eytan Fox (Yossi and Jagger) offers a sexy, modern and queer Romeo and Juliet in this story of lovers from two different worlds. Noam is a handsome record-store attendant who serves part-time with the Israeli Army at a checkpoint on the border of the Palestinian territories. An out gay man, he lives in Tel Aviv with his friends Lulu, an aspiring clothes designer, and Yali, a gay restaurant manager. When not commenting on each other’s love lives, the young friends actively support liberal politi-cal causes and consider themselves enlightened, distributing left-wing flyers opposing Israel’s Palestinian policy and organizing anti-occupation raves.

Noam’s world is rocked when he meets Ashraf, a soulful Palestinian who crosses through the checkpoint one day, then turns up again on the gay party scene in Tel Aviv. Noam and Ashraf hook up, and soon Noam is arm-twisting his roommates into accepting Ashraf as a new member of the household. The passionate affair flourishes in this “bubble” of liberal sentiment, but the world can only be held at bay for so long, as political and family pressures force Ashraf into cat-aclysmic decisions that threaten the love he’s found with Noam. Ultimately, each character comes face-to-face with the harsh realities that have fueled their attraction yet also conspire to drive them apart. Stern and unflinching in its mapping of battle lines, The Bubble passionately celebrates the love that brings Noam and Ashraf together, despite the legacy of conflict they’ve inherited.