Pauper Don’t Preach; Music Box Films Spies on Nadav Schirman’s The Green Prince

If Dror Moreh’s The Gatekeepers gave us four decades worth of Shin Bet’s tactile approach to the Middle East, Nadav Schirman’s The Green Prince further cracks the safe, giving viewers an insider’s perspective in twin, “enemy” territories. Dubbed as a taut docu-thriller and crowd-pleaser, TheWrap reports that Music Box Films has picked up the docu film that opened the Sundance Film Festival. The doc also played at the Full Frame fest and will be released theatrically this year.

Gist: Based on New York Times non-fiction best seller “Son of Hamas,” this real life thriller tells the story of one of Israel’s prized intelligence sources, the son of a top Hamas leader. Under the code name “The Green Prince”, he is recruited to spy on his own people for over a decade. Focusing on his complex relationship with his handler, this is a gripping account of terror, betrayal, impossible choices – and of a friendship that defies all boundaries.

Worth Noting: Schirman’s debut film The Champagne Spy (2008) won the Israeli Academy Award for Best Documentary, was nominated for the European Film Prize, and won the John Schlesinger Award for Outstanding First Feature.

Do We Care?: The Gatekeepers was solid docu talking heads fare, perhaps this Sundance audience winner in the World Docu comp will be an ideal companion piece.