The “Aqd Liat” team is filming a film about the Israeli hostage held by Hamas

It has been a week filled with extraordinary emotions in Israel as the last surviving hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023 were finally reunited with their families. For other families, there is only sadness when, under the terms of a negotiated ceasefire, Hamas releases the bodies of some hostages killed during their captivity. A group of families are going through the anguish of not knowing whether their loved ones’ remains will be returned.

The family of Liat Benin Atzili and her husband, Aviv Atzili, understand these feelings on the deepest levels, having lived in agonizing uncertainty about the fate of Liat and Aviv, who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 in the midst of a bloody attack on the kibbutz where they lived, and then taken to Gaza. The story of how Liat’s parents – American-Israeli couple Yehuda and Chaya Benin – dealt with this family crisis is told in the Oscar-nominated documentary. Lyat contractwinner of the Grand Prix for Nonfiction at the Berlin Film Festival.

Director Brandon Kramer and his brother, producer Lance Kramer, are distantly related to the Pennines.

“When we learned of the disappearance of Liat and Aviv, we contacted… [family] “In that conversation they told us that they wouldn’t hear back from the Israeli government, and that they were planning to come to our hometown, Washington, D.C., to try to advocate for the release of She was released because Liat is also an American citizen. And in that conversation, we decided we should pick up our camera.

Brandon added: “Our relatives were thrust into the heart of a geopolitical crisis, and when we started filming, we saw that what they were going through was very different from any of the narratives we were seeing in the media and on social media and we felt this responsibility to see their experience through.”

One of the reasons that made the narrative so distinctive is Yehuda Benin’s willingness – even insistence – to talk about the political dimensions of the hostage crisis and the devastating retaliatory attack launched by the Israeli government on Gaza.

“Within days of Liat’s kidnapping, he was very vocal in saying, ‘I don’t want my daughter’s or my son-in-law’s pain or the trauma my family is going through to be used to justify further violence against Palestinians,’” Brandon said. “And we felt like that perspective was very urgent and needed in this moment.”

Consultants advising the family on how best to work with the Biden administration to seek the release of Liat and Aviv told Yehuda not to be so blunt. Even Yehuda’s wife, Chaya, and their other daughter, Tal Benin, expressed reservations about his bold approach. The film reveals, in a subtle way, that speaking out became Yehuda’s way of dealing with incredibly traumatic circumstances.

Lance Kramer noted that “the line between his politics and his emotional response is very blurry at best.” “What we saw was that politics and leaning into his position on the conflict was a way for him to deal with an incomprehensible level of grief and trauma. It had a purpose as well, and it was effective in some ways, but it was also a way for him to get up in the morning and perform.”

Lance added, “Not everyone was dealing with their feelings the same way. And so we thought it was also important to see not only how it was manifesting, but also the dissonance and difference within the family. And ultimately, I think one of the greatest catharsis that the film offers at the end is being able to see some of those walls come down within Judah.”

The emotional walls crumbled after Liat was finally released after 54 days in captivity. Her husband, Aviv – the father of her children – who was detained separately from Liat in Gaza, was killed, and his body was returned shortly after Liat was freed. The filmmakers then faced Liat and her family with a scenario that was perhaps unique in the history of documentary cinema.

“She emerges from captivity for 54 days. Twelve hours later she finds out that her husband was murdered. She grieves for that loss and the shock of this moment. She also finds out that a documentary has been made about the last 54 days after her family’s experience,” Brandon said. “There was a process to give her a lot of agency and power in deciding if and how her experience would be a part of this film. And fortunately she said yes and really felt that was important.”

It was praised by critics Lyat contract For the sensitive way he explores a story that by its very nature cannot be divorced from a larger, explosive geopolitical context. The documentary has been shown around the world, including Israel, Poland, Brazil, Hong Kong and Australia. The film was screened Tuesday at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival in Arkansas, just one day after the last surviving Israeli hostages were released.

Lance noted: “It was really extraordinary for us to see how people were connecting with the humanity of family, and appreciating that even in their differences there is love and connection and to represent people who are also navigating their differences together — even in the midst of something like this conflict that is so polarizing and painful with so much suffering for Israelis and Palestinians and people outside as well — people who have been directly affected can’t get enough.” “With that.” They face these differences together but also open up about their lives and be vulnerable. To share that with the world, I think it was great to see how people respected that.

Lance continued, “There are also people who were clearly very challenged in the film. And that’s also important because even that kind of discourse was very civil and it opened up a space to have these kind of conversations that I think would otherwise be very difficult, if not impossible to have.”

Lyat contract It has been released in multiple territories around the world but has not yet been picked up for distribution in the United States. The Kramer brothers aren’t waiting for that to happen to show their film in American theaters.

“We plan to release the film theatrically in the U.S. starting in January, so it will open in New York at Film Forum and then expand to Los Angeles and other cities shortly after that,” Lance said. “We also didn’t want to wait for ‘yes’ before making plans and also respond to the really urgent need to get this story out into the world.”

Watch the full conversation in the video above.

For the Love of Docs continues next Tuesday with a virtual screening of its film I was born this waydirected by Danielle Jung and Sam Pollard. To respond to this event, Click here.