Project starring Stephen Dorff will shoot for nine weeks in Israel.

London-based Bedlam Productions, whose credits including Oscar winner The King’s Speech, will start shooting Eran Riklis’ Zaytoun on April 1.

The feature will shoot for nine weeks in Israel, becoming the first film to take advantage of the newly signed UK-Israel Coproduction Treaty.

Stephen Dorff, Alice Taglioni, Loai Nofi, Tarik Kopty, Ashraf Barhom, Ali Sulman, Jony Arbid, Mira Awad and Abdallah El Akel star.

The story is about a 10-year-old Palestinian refugee who becomes an unlikely friend to an Israeli fighter pilot shot down over Beirut in 1982.

Pathe is handling French-speaking territories and international sales; United King has Israeli distribution rights.

Equity partners are HW Buffalo and British FIlm Company, while Paris-based BUF will provide post-production services. Development was supported by the BFI Film Fund and British Film Company.

For full production details visit

Riklis, whose credits include Lemon Tree and The Syrian Bride, developed the project with Fred Ritzenberg of FAR Films.

Bedlam CEO Gareth Unwin boarded the project after reading Nader Rizq’s script at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2010.

Riklis said: “After The Syrian Bride and Lemon Tree, I thought I completed my ‘Middle East Cycle’ but the fact is that as an Israeli director I feel it’s my duty to touch on the pain, sorrow and complexity of this region, to offer some hope and optimism and to shine a light on the human drama behind and beyond the news headlines”.

Dan Laustsen (Silent Hill) will serve as DoP while the editor will be Herve Schneid (Amelie).