‘A Bottle in the Gaza Sea” opens with a black screen and the sounds of a suicide bomber blowing up a cafe in Israel in 2007. The horror prompts a 17-year-old French-Israeli girl, Tal (Agathe Bonitzer), to write a note asking how anybody could commit such a crime. She has her brother, a member of the Israeli army, toss it into the sea in a bottle.
The missive is found by Naim (Mahmoud Shalaby), a 20-year-old Palestinian deliveryman in Gaza. The note, in English, includes Tal’s e-mail address, and Naim replies. At first, the two young people are, naturally, wary of each other, but soon they develop a warm e-mail friendship.
Directed and co-written by Thierry Binisti, a TV veteran, the film boasts solid acting (especially from red-haired Bonitzer) and handsome cinematography. And it raises the hope that someday, perhaps, there can be a meeting of Israeli and Palestinian minds. It’s a comforting thought for the new year.