An exploration of the Nakba through the lens of one village, Tantura.
Documentary | Length: 94 mins | Topic: Nakba, Israeli perspectives
Directed by: Alon Schwarz
Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNtrUjUNkJw
Official Website: https://whereolivetreesweep.com/
Why We Recommend This:
The film delves into the suppression of this narrative and the ongoing battle over historical memory, making it a compelling and thought-provoking watch for anyone interested in the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the nature of historical truth, and the power of documentary filmmaking.
This documentary re-examines audio archives of research into the massacres of the village of Tantura, and features new, candid interviews with former Israeli soldiers, some of whom admit to witnessing war crimes, while others vehemently deny that a massacre took place. The film juxtaposes these conflicting testimonies, creating a powerful and unsettling portrait of how historical events are remembered, retold, and erased.
Film Description
After the declaration of Israel in 1948 and the ensuing Israel-Arab war, hundreds of Palestinian villages were depopulated. Palestinians call this period ‘Al Nakba’ – the Catastrophe. To this day, Al Nakba is taboo in Israeli society.
In the 1990s, researcher Teddy Katz conducted many hours of interviews about a massacre that the Israeli Alexandroni Brigade was alleged to have committed in the Palestinian town of Tantura. Katz captured shocking testimony from former soldiers, who subsequently all retracted what they had said. Katz was sued for defamation and his tapes were not permitted to be heard in court. Now, director Alon Schwarz confronts former Israeli soldiers and talks to Palestinian residents of Tantura, in an effort to re-examine what happened. ‘Be careful,’ Katz warns him. ‘They will hunt you down like I was.’ (source: moviesthatmatter.com)
