Oscar-nominated filmmaker Guy Davidi brings IDFA Innocence, a powerful documentary that questions the militarization of Israeli society.

Guy Davidi’s movie innocence are haunted by the words of Israeli soldiers who did not survive their military service.

“People have a desire for destruction,” observes one of the soldiers, expressing his deep skepticism about being forced to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces. Another says, “I don’t like to kill.” Whether they doubt it or not, every Israeli – male and female – must serve in the army by the time they turn 18.

innocenceFeatured in the IDFA’s Best Festivals category, Davidi examines the psychological effects of the militarization that pervades Israel and affects individuals and the country as a whole.

“When you meet people who have served in the military, they’re all hurting,” Davidi tells Deadline. “We are a wounded society.”

Davidi, co-director of the famous 2011 documentary Five broken camerasworked on innocence for a decade. The project’s early years were spent reaching out to families of soldiers who committed suicide while serving in the IDF (suicide was the leading cause of death among active military personnel in Israel in 2021 and 2020 of Israel, according to the Times). Some of these families shared writings and videos of their loved ones, archival footage that became the driving forces of the film.

“My idea was to tell the story from their perspective,” explains Davidi, “so don’t film interviews or talk to anyone about it [the soldiers]or professionals just to get them to talk, to tell the story.”

The words of 20-year-old Halil Givati ​​​​Rapp are among those that resonate in the film. He wrote in his diary: “This world is full of evil, exploitation, injustice and pain. When I joined the military, I became part of what causes it.

While innocenceDavidi weaves scenes of Israeli children at school or playing. Stray Moments shows the extent to which children tend to think about their country in militaristic terms from an early age. For example, in a carnival scene, soldiers demonstrate their weapons to children and children are given the opportunity to have their faces painted with olive green camouflage paint. Davidi filmed another scene with young children in the classroom participating in an art project.

“That [teacher] gave the little kids painting instructions when they were four years old,” Davidi recalls. “[She says]“You can paint what you want. Feel free to introduce yourself. But green is good for uniforms and for the army.” I think in the first 10 years of your life… you are introduced, you are conditioned, but you are not forced to adopt a militarized mindset from that age.

Davidi filmed a scene in a classroom in which a girl, about 10, tells Ella, a young man who is in the Boy Scouts, that she is not interested in joining the army. The scout tells her that she has no choice – she must serve as soon as she is 18.

“The moment he tells her, yes, everyone has to do it, she is shocked,” says Davidi. “And it was an undirected scene, a complete surprise to me. You could actually say that at a certain age everyone experiences these moments in one way or another. I was lucky enough to see when it happened to her— quite late by the way, because by then most kids her age would know they had to do military service.

Davidi is deeply concerned about conscription.

“Everyone has the right not to own a gun and not to be forced by any country [to do so]. I am also against it in every country and in every situation,” he says. “I think it’s something that we as societies just shouldn’t be doing [do]… I’m not happy when people are forced to do that because it’s a violation of human rights, to me the right not to use a weapon against someone else … It’s your right not to not to hurt, not to kill anyone. .”

Davidi enlisted in the army at the age of 18 hoping to be assigned to a “rear unit” where he could be assigned to film production. He was immediately overcome with deep regret.

“In the first few days,” he recalls, “you had the feeling, ‘What have I done to myself?’ … When you hold a gun in your hand for the first time – I can relate to my own experience – when you get hold of this piece of metal, something changes inside you. And even if you’re not aware of it, I think something is changing in you because suddenly there is great meaning in what you do and what you do.”

Israel’s strong military posture has convinced its people that force is right, Davidi suggests. The militarized view can manifest itself in different ways, he says.

“To grow, to make your army stronger and bigger, that means more people involved in the army, in the government and in security. For example, it changes the way they look at international relations,” he notes. “I don’t think we do [place] value diplomacy as a country… They are good at using diplomacy as part of our security tactics and as part of our military tactics. I think it is also a price that other societies can risk when you become addicted to your power and solve problems with violence.”

Davidi is concerned about the entertainment media’s portrayal of the IDF as an invincible force. Those images are exported to other countries, including the US, where they influence attitudes, he says.

“I’m just amazed… how much the Israeli military is portrayed in American films and television. Fauda is a major TV series on Netflix and creates an image of a strong Israeli society through the military. And that is immoral to me. If you’re in the sci-fi world or whatever, that’s fine – but we’re talking about the realities of people’s lives and we’re just taking away what it means to have a militarized society and putting Israel for that reason only as a successful society of military service because they are strong, because they choose their own destiny, just to me this is a distorted thinking.

“Unfortunately, a lot of people, especially those associated with Israel,” says Davidi, indicating that he means American Jews, “oddly enough, buy this painting. They see it as a positive image of a successful country.”

innocence premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September, but has yet to make its debut in Israel.

“I’m sure the film will be accepted by Israelis because everyone in Israel served in the army,” says Davidi. “They all know the military, regardless of their political opinions. You know how complex military service is. Even if they have right-wing views, they will somehow embrace the film because everyone has seen, or thinks about, or tries to see someone commit suicide in the military.

As for the possible reaction of some American viewers to the film, the director is not so optimistic.

“I think the biggest challenge for us is the American public, because of the tremendous support that especially American Jews have [the] The Israeli military, along with the idealism of what the military is,” he says, “to the point where I’m not even sure the film will end up reaching American audiences.”

Autolook takes the international distribution of innocence. Davidi directed and edited with Maja Friis. Produced by Sigrid Dyekjær and Hilla Medalia. The camera work is by Davidi and Avner Shahaf. The score is by Snorri Hallgrimsson.