“Kissufim,” Israeli Film About Young IDF Soldiers, Makes Netflix Debut

In August, Netflix began streaming the award-winning Israeli film, “Kissufim” — and it could be a sign of things getting better for Jewish and Israeli film and television content in the U.S.

The film, in Hebrew with some dialogue in English, was directed by Keren Nechmad (“Ani” and stars actress Swell Ariel Or (“The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem”) and takes place at Kibbutz Kissufim near the Gaza border in 1977. Four years removed from the Yom Kippur War, the story follows young IDF soldiers nearing the end of their military service. It’s a peek into the ordinary lives of male and female soldiers as they contemplate friendship, romance, security threats, kibbutz life and political tensions between their homeland and its neighbors. When it was made in 2021, the film was a coming-of-age story with the main character, Eli (played by Or) based on a 21-year-old IDF soldier Elian Gazit. The contrasting mood of the era can be felt when the soldiers erupt in cheers when they watch Egyptian President Anwar Sadat visits Jerusalem on television, followed by a scene of Eli laying barbed wire along the perimeter of a mine field.

But less than a month before “Kissufim” premiered at the Cyprus International Film Festival on Nov. 4, 2023, the film took on new importance. On Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists murdered nearly 1,200 people across southern Israel and abducted 251. Twenty-two people at Kibbutz Kissufim were murdered that day, and four were abducted by Hamas and held captive in Gaza.

“It tells a story about a group of friends who in any other situation, in any other place, would just be a coming of age story,” Nechmad told The Journal. “In the face of reality in Israel, it just shows the loop that we live in. The loop just hit us in a moment in time that I never knew how close it would get to the film and how much it relates to what we’re going through today … it just touches in a very close hurting place.”

“It tells a story about a group of friends who in any other situation, in any other place, would just be a coming of age story. In the face of reality in Israel, it just shows the loop that we live in.” – Keren Nechmad

Just one year ago, Or really wanted people to see this film and relate to one of the characters, to see that character as a reflection of themselves. Now, she wants people to see the film and learn about Israelis.

“I really want people to see what it’s like to navigate adulthood, not just adulthood, but becoming an adult within this setup and background of the country,” Or said.

In many ways, “Kissufim” feels like the 1995 film, “Now and Then,” another coming-of-age film set in the 1970s, about the lives of four teenage girls and their summer hijinks. “Kissufim,” though, adds military service and boys to the mix. Nechmad and Or both said that the camaraderie among the cast members is what really brought the story to life. During the summer of 2021, they went out together every day between shoots. Or described filming on location at the kibbutz was a meditative experience for the entire cast and crew.

“There’s something that happens there after 48 hours; you feel like you’re in one of the highest forms of meditation,” Or said.

Nechmad described the location as both beautiful and constantly under threat. Even with the border wall with Gaza less than half a mile away, their biggest worries on set were about preventing an outbreak of COVID-19 within the cast and crew. She said it was an “unexpectedly peaceful summer” following the May 2021 outbreak of violence between Israel and Hamas.

“God protected us and it gave us a full summer of just quiet and freedom to really work on this film,” she said.

One of the film’s most  arresting scenes is when Eli does a dance for her fellow soldiers in a minefield. In the midst of her dance, a landmine detonates, but Eli is unharmed. Seeing her joy juxtaposed with sudden terror and the looks on her comrades’ faces is what makes the scene so poignant.

“If someone would want to see the whole film in one scene, I would give them that sequence — the kind of childish, dreamy way of having fun and just not caring versus reality and instant changes and life threats,” Or said.

“We really wanted to make sure we get the emotions from the high to the low lows you can feel from one moment to another,” Nechmad said.

On Oct. 7, one of the security officers from the kibbutz was murdered. He had briefed the cast and crew on what to do in case of a terrorist attack during filming. Nechmad and Or revisited the kibbutz after the attack.

“There are just a couple of people trying to build back the kibbutz,” Nechmad said. “The kibbutz itself, it’s residential. They moved somewhere else for now, and they don’t see themselves coming back anytime soon.” Nechmad shared a heartbreaking story about one of the kibbutz members returned to check on the livestock after the attacks.

“Most of [the livestock] got abandoned, and then one of the farmers came back after three days to feed the cows,” Or said. “They’re were hungry, and he got killed by a terrorist who was still hiding there.”

“Kissufim” has received strong emotional reactions from audiences around the festival circuit. At the Orlando Film Festival, Or recalled a non-Jewish viewer who approached her, uncontrollably crying following a screening. The film made the man think about his daughter who was volunteering with vulnerable populations in India.

“Kissufim” is the rare Israeli film that have shown up on the major streaming services. It shows a part of Israel that existed before the attacks of Oct. 7, compounded with the complexity of love, friendship and young adult angst. It’s a much-needed depiction of life in Israel near the Gaza border and the daily deluge of threats and ordinary life.

“If it’s a way for you to connect to it and a way for you to just find a different way to search deeper into what it means to live in the Middle East, then go watch it,” Nechmad said.