In the Wake TV Producers Shayna and Julia discuss Coexistence, My Ass!, the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award winner for Freedom of Expression. The film follows Jewish comedian Noam Shuster Eliassi as she creates a personal and political one-woman show about the struggle for equality in Israel/Palestine—using comedy to challenge audiences with hard truths that are no laughing matter.

When Coexistence Becomes a Punchline: Director Amber Fares documents Eliassi's journey from UN diplomat to comedian, capturing her brilliant stand-up set developed at Harvard and performed before a live audience. As the elusive coexistence she's spent her life working toward starts sounding like a bad joke, Eliassi refuses to look away from the realities of occupation, genocide, and systemic oppression. The film, made over several years, documents not only Eliassi's shifting perspective but also the unfolding violence in the region and the seismically dynamic discourse surrounding it—offering audiences a laugh, a tear, and an openness that feels like both a salve and a kick in the ass.

Why This Matters: Shayna and Julia discuss the courage it takes for a Jewish comedian to use her platform to confront Israeli apartheid, genocide, and Islamophobia—especially when speaking these truths comes with professional, social, and personal consequences. Eliassi's comedy doesn't offer comfort or easy answers; it demands accountability and challenges the narratives that allow oppression to continue unchallenged. Her work proves that humor can be a tool of resistance, a way to break through denial and force audiences to reckon with complicity.

Watch the full conversation as Shayna and Julia explore the power of comedy as truth-telling, the urgency of Palestinian liberation, and why Coexistence, My Ass! is essential viewing for anyone ready to confront uncomfortable realities.

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