A critically acclaimed yet controversial Israeli TV show dealing with the 2014 abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers and later a Palestinian teen has been sold to a broadcaster the largest Muslim country in the world – Indonesia.
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The show was also sold to Hong Kong and Australian broadcasters and has already aired in Europe and Latin America.
Set in the summer of 2014, Our Boys is based on the true events which led to Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip, and focuses on the June 12 abduction and subsequent murder of Naftali Frenkel (16), Gilad Shaer (16) and Eyal Yifrah (19) by Hamas terrorists, and the July 2 murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir (16), by Jewish extremists.
The 10-episode series premiered on August 12, 2019, on HBO as a co-production between the American cable television giant and Keshet International, the global production and distribution arm of Israeli media company Keshet Media Group, which also operates Channel 12 News.
The series was filmed on location in Israel and directed by Israeli filmmaker Joseph Cedar and Palestinian writer and director Tawfik Abu Wael, who also co-created the series alongside showrunner Hagai Levi.
The series won 14 Israeli Academy Awards, including for Best Drama Series, Best Actor for Johnny Arbid, Best Actress for Ruba Blal Asfour, Best Photography for Yaron Scharf, plus Best Direction and Best Screenplay for Hagai Levi, Joseph Cedar and Tawfik Abu Wael.
Our Boys has also received nominations in the Entertainment category of the 2020 Peabody Awards, which honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and online media, and in the Foreign language category of the 2020 Multi-Ethnicity in Communications Vision Awards.
The show sparked controversy in Israel over what many claimed was its skewing of the facts.
Some 120 bereaved Israeli families sent a letter to HBO protesting the series, claiming that the show largely glosses over the murder of the three Israeli teens, to focus on the Palestinian teen's murder. They demanded that HBO clarify that Palestinian terrorism is much more prevalent than Jewish terrorism, but HBO declined to comply.
"We are thrilled that a series that focuses on a tragic human story from the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is capable of transcending borders and touching the hearts of viewers from around the world, and now, for the first time, Muslim viewers," Karni Ziv, Keshet Media Group's head of Drama and Comedy, told Israel Hayom Wednesday.
"A solid human-inserters story knows no borders. Keshet is proud to work with top Israeli creators and produce an Israeli content experience that has universal appeal."
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