(JTA) — An Arab-Israeli rap artist won over audiences at the 66th annual Berlin International Film Festival, gleaning a top public prize for Israeli director Udi Aloni. “Junction 48” was one of two Israeli productions to take home Panorama Audience Awards on Saturday, Feb. 20, winning for best feature. It tells the story of a young Arab-Israeli couple from Lod, in central Israel, who use their rap songs to criticize Israeli politics and the patriarchal system in their Arab village. The other Israeli winner, “Who’s Gonna Love Me Now?,” by Israeli brothers Barak and Tomer Heymann, took home the audience award for documentary. The Israeli-British production tells the story of a gay man who was kicked out of his parents’ kibbutz and left Israel for London. The protagonist, now 40,  ultimately tries to reconcile with his family. The Berlinale is considered the most political of the major international film festivals.

Speaking to the Berlin audience after the post-award screening, Aloni said he had been dealing for hours with vulgar emails and Facebook messages from Jewish-Israelis. He also said the Israeli government was displeased with the film. He insisted his message was that Jews and Arabs can collaborate to make a better life together, though there were few encounters with Jewish characters in the film. “The movie tells a Palestinian story … the Palestinians are the subject,” he said. The Jews who receive the most attention are rival rappers, ultranationalists who try to bait the Arab rappers with racist talk. Unlike the Israeli police in the film, the Jewish rappers are “evil but not dangerous.”

As is often the case at the Berlinale, Israeli documentaries focused on the dark side of life in the region.