Innocence

by Guy Davidi
Innocence poster
Product Availability
Home-Use, Community Screenings, Theatrical, Festivals
About the Film

Making a war is a storyteller’s job. A good story is crucial to legitimize the use of military force. That’s why militaries need strong promotion and Israel is a model country in promoting its military ventures. We’ve successfully colonized, occupied and overgrown, and only got stronger and more accepted amongst the nations. Our history as persecuted Jews, and our enlightened democracy are both in use in our solid PR kit. But before pitching our story to the world, we need to pitch it to our children. As moral corruption linked with apartheid thrives, avoiding military service becomes a threat. For some children we’ll offer benefits, for most we’ll sell fictitious promises. Every child is screened to serve with bearable pressure and an adjusted amount of exposure to violence. INNOCENCE tells the story of children who resisted to be enlisted but capitulated. Their stories were never told as they died during their service. Through a narration based on their haunting diaries, the film depicts their inner turmoil. It interweaves first-hand military images, key moments from childhood until enlistment and home videos of the deceased soldiers whose stories are silenced and seen as a national threat.

2022  ·  1h40m  ·  Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Israel
English, Hebrew
English, Hebrew subs
Festivals and Awards
2023
Hot Docs International Documentary Festival, Official Selection
2023
Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, Official Selection
2023
CPH:DOX, Official Selection
2022
IDFA, Official Selection
2022
Chicago International Film Festival, Official Selection
2022
Best Mediterranean Film, Young Artists in Venice Award
2022
Venice International Film Festival, Official Selection, Horizon Section
Screenings
May 4, 2023
Hot Docs International Documentary Festival (Toronto, Canada)
April 30, 2023
Hot Docs International Documentary Festival (Toronto, Canada)
September 5, 2022
Venice International Film Festival (World Premiere) (Venice, Italy)
Credits
Director
Guy Davidi
Producers
Sigrid Dyekjær, Hilla Medalia
Production
Danish Documentary, Medalia Productions
Editor
Guy Davidi
Cinematography
Guy Davidi, Avner Shahaf
Composer
Snorri Hallgrímsson
Sound Design
Heikki Kossi M.P.S.E

"A thoughtful, wide-ranging focus results in an eye-opening documentary that grows into a moving lament for the dead."

“documentarian Guy Davidi’s Innocence only starts there, providing a harrowing multimedia case against his country’s conscription and the pressure squeezing the Israeli children staring down its barrel.”

“incredibly moving and tenderly assembled documentary…”

“a quietly powerful film with important questions that, one hopes, will contribute to a much-needed reevaluation of compulsory enrollment in the armed forces.”

“an impassioned, partisan film, Innocence […] serves as a yet another reminder that, at this point its history, the country faces greater threats from within than from outside its borders.”

About the Director

Guy Davidi

Born in Jaffa, acclaimed Israeli filmmaker Guy Davidi, has been making films since a young age. After evading the Israeli army Davidi started to make films focusing on highly charged political issues with a deeply emotional tone and an innovative approach. His most known film 5 Broken Cameras, co-directed with Palestinian Emad Burnat, was nominated to the Oscar in 2012 and won an Emmy for Best Documentary in 2013. The film has since been considered as an astounding achievement of the Palestinian-Israeli peace movement. His new film Innocence, based on 10 years of research, is an epic portrait of his own disturbed country.

 
Other films by Guy Davidi

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