Yellow Asphalt (Hebrew: אספלט צהוב, Asfalt Tzahov) is an Israeli movie depicting Jahalin Bedouins and their way of life, specifically their conflict with Israeli Jews. The film is a pastiche of three short stories depicted sequentially:
- Black spot (Moshe Ivgi, Zevik Raz) - about an Israeli tanker crew which runs over a Bedouin boy
- Here is not there (Tatjana Blacher, Abed Zuabi) - about the doomed love of a German woman and her Bedouin husband
- Red roofs (Raida Adon, Sami Samir, Motti Katz) - about a love affair / physical relationship of an Israeli Jewish farmer and his Bedouin maid
The stories are shot on location in the Judean desert, and casts members of the Jahalin Bedouin tribe in acting roles. The three shorts are woven together by the presence of the same village elders in all the films, who happen to be actual members of the Jahalin Bedouin. The movie was released with Hebrew and Arabic audio tracks. The shorts are based on true events, and the director actually lived with the Bedouin tribe for some time before making the movie, learning their view of things portrayed in the movie. The entire movie took seven years to create. The movie tries to portray the clash of civilizations between the Bedouins and Israeli Jews in a non-judgmental manner.
Shot before the Second Intifada, the movie steers clear of political themes, focusing instead on social issues.
Famous quotes containing the words yellow and/or asphalt:
“When there was no more lantern in the kitchen,
The fire got out through crannies in the stove
And danced in yellow wrigglers on the ceiling,
As much at home as if they’d always danced there.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“And the wind shall say “Here were decent godless people;
Their only monument the asphalt road
And a thousand lost golf balls.””
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)