Gidi Gov ad nearly causes diplomatic incident with Iran
Israeli actor and singer films Bezeq commercial in Kiev depicting Iranians kidnapping civilians when Iranian embassy officials arrive, necessitating some creative thinking.
Actor and singer Gidi Gov was recently caught in a bizarre, life-imitates-art incident when a commercial shoot was visited by a trio of distrustful Iranian officials.
Gov was acting in an advertisement for the Bezeq telecommunications company that parodied the film "Argo". The ad involved Gov entering Iranian territory and ending up surrounded by dozens of Revolutionary Guards troops brandishing weapons.
The ad's director, Rani Carmeli, requested that the video appear to be set in Tehran and present situations reminiscent of "Argo". The production thus utilized shooting locations made to look similar to the international airport in Tehran, an authentic Persian market, and a secret military command center.
A large sports stadium was selected to stand in for the airport, where 80 extras arrived on shooting day along with Persian-emblazoned buses and taxis, flight attendants in Iran Air uniforms, and troops dressed in Revolutionary Guards uniforms. Huge photos of Ayatollahs Khamenei and Khomenei and Iranian flags decorated the walls.
Towards the end of shooting at this location, when the crew had already begun preparing for the next location, three men clad in suits – who witnesses reported appeared threatening – arrived. The three introduced themselves as information office representatives working at the Iranian embassy in Kiev and asked to speak with the producers.
Upon meeting the producers, the three men asked why there were images of the Ayatollahs and Iranian flags in one of the busiest places in Kiev. Spooked, the producers decided to rush the Israeli crew and participants to the next location.
"I suddenly felt like the film and reality were being mixed," said Carmeli. "We're filming a video inspired by 'Argo' abroad, surrounded by actors dressed as Revolutionary Guards troops, and suddenly the local producer comes over, sweating and anxious, and whispers that policemen and people from the Iranian embassy have arrived. The Iranians asked for details about what we were doing and for everyone's names."
In order to obscure the Israeli connection, the producers told the three Iranians that they had stumbled on the set of a Polish film. The production company's director even gave the Iranians details of a Polish production company with which he occasionally works. The Iranians continued raising questions about the production and further shooting locations, and were sent to various sites in Kiev in order to distance them from the Israeli crew and avoid a diplomatic incident.
Throughout the incident, Gov remained serene. The production team decided to keep him unaware of what was happening. Carmeli and the crew quickly removed all Iranian elements from the set.
When Gov asked why, they said there were problems with local unions and that shooting had to be completed rapidly. Gov accepted the answer and the crew began preparing to get to the airport.
It was only on the way to the airport that the crew revealed the truth about the incident to Gov, who smiled and uttered one word: "Thanks."
