Innocence

by Guy Davidi

INNOCENCE tackles the issue of militarization and its impact on the lives of young Israeli people who are forced to serve against their own identity and values.

2022 · 1h40m · Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Israel

English, Hebrew

English subs

About the Film

Award-winning and Oscar-nominated director Guy Davidi (5 BROKEN CAMERAS) focuses on his country’s military industrial-cultural complex to reveal a searing and devastating story of war, propaganda, and a society that normalizes the corruption of childhood in the service of state violence. While exposing the workings of Israel’s recruitment and training machine, Davidi deftly stitches the fragments of a militarized culture into a scathing exposition and inevitable call to action.

INNOCENCE’s disquieting tapestry of home videos, diaries, intimate letters and poetry, as well as clandestine insider footage, probes volatile and difficult spaces marked by the deformation of childhood, indoctrination and the consequential loss of young lives at their own hands. The reflections of young Israeli conscripts grappling with the physical, emotional and moral punishment of training for hate, war and illegal occupation of Palestinian lands are shared by way of indelible diary entries, footage from training camps and private moments at home with family and school friends. These are the fragments of short-lived lives, and in Davidi’s hypnotic, caring and cautionary film they compel us to know the trauma and confront the carnage of state violence – both internal and external.

Cinema Politica is the proud distributor of Innocence. Visit our distribution catalog to learn more about the licensing options.

Upcoming Screenings

Stay tuned for upcoming screenings!

Festivals and Awards

2023

Lunenburg Doc Fest, Official Selection

2023

Festival de cinema ville de Quebec, Official Selection

2023

Atlantic International Film Festival, Official Selection

2023

Millenium Docs Against Gravity, Official Selection, Bydgoszcz ART.DOC Award

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

In the Press

Review

Innocence Review: Tackling an Israeli Death Sentence

Liam LaceyPOV Magazine

Review

Movie Pie - Hot Docs 2023

Vickie ReichardtMovie Pie

Review

IDFA Review: Innocence

Rob AldamBackseat Mafia

Review

Tragic Israeli Doc Innocence Makes Convincing Plea Against Conscription

Jacob OllerPaste Magazine

Review

Innocence: a furious documentary suffused with grief

Rafa Sales RossSight and Sound

Review

Review: Innocence

Elena LazicCineuropa

Review

‘Innocence’: Venice Review

Screen Daily

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

Film Related

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.

Innocence

Guy Davidi

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