To See if I'm Smiling

Six female former soldiers reveal the pshychological scars of serving in the Occupied Territories.

Tamar Yarom / Israel / 2007 / 60 min / Hebrew with English subtitles

Israel is the only country in the world where 18-year-old girls are drafted for compulsory military service. In this award-winning documentary, the frank testimonials of six female Israeli soldiers stationed in Gaza and the West Bank pack a powerful emotional punch. The young women revisit their tours of duty in the occupied territories with surprising honesty and strip bare stereotypes of gender differences in the military. The former soldiers share shocking moments of negligence, flippancy, immaturity and power-tripping as they describe atrocities they witnessed and participated in.

The psychological transformation that these young women underwent as a result of military service is both upsetting and riveting. The culture of war transforms people: personalities change, moral codes are subverted, values are supplanted and masks are constructed to dull the pain of what they did and didn't do in uniform. At a time when women in the military are increasingly on the frontlines, and the actions of soldiers all over the world are being questioned, this powerful film explores the ways that gender, ethics and moral responsibility intersect during war. [Description taken from Women Make Movies]

Credits

Awards & Festivals

Int’l Doc FF Amsterdam (IDFA), Silver Wolf Award

Int’l Doc FF, Amsterdam (IDFA), Audience Award

Hot Docs, Special Jury Price

WATCH DOCS: Human Rights Int'l Film Festival, Jacek Kuron Short

Documentary Competition First Prize

Sarasota FF, Special Documentary Jury Prize

Haifa Int’l FF, Best Documentary

Dokufest, Best Feature Documentary

Israeli Documentary Competition, Best Documentary

Montpellier Festival, Documentary Prize

* New Orleans Middle East FF
* Boston Jewish FF
* Washington Jewish FF
* Palm Beach Jewish FF
* Hot Docs Canadian Int'l FF
* Sarasota FFl
* Calgary Jewish FF
* Visual Arts Center, Richmond
* Human Rights Watch Int'l Traveling FF
* Human Rights Watch Int'l FF, NY
* One World Int’l Human Rights Doc FF, Prague
* FICCO, Festival Int'l of Contemporary Cinema, Mexico City
* ZagrebDox - Int'l Doc FF, Croatia
* Full Frame Doc FF
* San Francisco Jewish FF
* Toronto Jewish FF
* DOXA Vancouver

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