Who would have expected Stephen Dorff to be playing the role of an Israeli fighter pilot in a film that is trying in some way to bring together Israelis and Palestinians? It's no small undertaking, and I'm talking about the Dorff performance not what the film would ideally love to achieve.

It does look like Dorff is set to deliver a strong performance in an important role though and it's not just him, the film itself has been gathering positive comments too for its portrayal of the story and the performance of both leading actors.

Stephen Dorff's career has been made of ups and downs, and to be honest there have been a lot less of those ups, however there were performances and roles that stood out such as Cold Creek Manor, World Trade Center (Filmstalker review), Public Enemies, Somewhere, Immortals, even Brake (Filmstalker review). However the better roles and performances have been coming more often these last few years so perhaps we're seeing a rise in Dorff as a wanted actor and one who can deliver, and he's certainly appearing to pick better roles.

This new film called Zaytoun sets him in the leading role of a film by director Eran Riklis and written by Nader Rizq and it allows him to deliver a full performance with no other distractions and the film has been getting some recognition at festivals around the world.

Here's the blurb for Zaytoun:

Beirut, 1982: a young Palestinian refugee and an Israeli fighter pilot form a tentative bond in their attempt to make their way across war-torn Lebanon back to their home.

The film is being released on Boxing Day in the UK and is headed to France in February. Hopefully if it does well enough and the festival praise carries it through it will see a wider release.

Here's the trailer for Zaytoun through First Showing: