Diverse documentaries rule the Israel Film Festival

Films can show a country’s humor, history, obsessions and pride, and although big-star features get most of the attention, it is the sharply focused documentary that frequently cuts to the heart of the matter.

This rule applies to the ongoing Israel Film Festival, which is presenting Los Angeles and world premieres of six feature-length and three short documentaries.

Four of the feature docs were available for the Journal to view in advance, and they deal with a diversity of topics: the impact of the Six-Day War on those who fought it; an eccentric British clan that viewed itself as God’s gift to Zionism; the enterprise of the wave of German immigrants to Palestine in the 1930s; and a musical idol looking back on his rise and fall.

“Censored Voices”:  At the end of the Six-Day War in 1967, while Jews everywhere were celebrating the miraculous triumph of Israel’s armed forces, writer Amos Oz met with small groups of soldiers to talk about their war experiences. The men were kibbutzniks, who traditionally formed the elite of the Israel Defense Forces.

” target=”_blank”> Israel Film Festival website.