It’s not uncommon for Israelis on the left to cite a social and moral cost of the ongoing military presence in the Palestinian territories. Based on three disturbing documentaries in the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, you can factor in a psychological toll, too.
Tamar Yarom’s “To See If I’m Smiling,” composed of interviews with six female soldiers who served in the territories, is arguably the most disturbing. Nobody expects Israeli women, even 18- to 20-year-olds, to be shrinking violets, but the abuses they committed, albeit under the pressure of war, are acutely distressing.
A no-nonsense young woman named Libi recounts that just before she went on duty at a checkpoint, she heard that a woman soldier she knew had been shot elsewhere. Furious, she grabbed 80 Palestinians (by her count) and made them stand in the sun for her entire 12-hour shift.
Meytal, a soft-spoken medic, confides that she spontaneously asked another woman to take her photo with a dead, naked Palestinian. It’s an echo of Abu Ghraib, except no one found out, she received no punishment and she’s shattered by the fact that she was capable of such a thing.
“To See If I’m Smiling,” co-presented with the JCC of the East Bay and Jewish Voice for Peace, can and will be viewed as an argument against the continued occupation of the West Bank. Some moviegoers may be swayed against mandatory military service for women. The least assailable conclusions one might draw, however, are that war always produces innocent casualties, and power breeds cruelty.
According to “Flipping Out,” male soldiers are given a discharge bonus at the end of their three-year term, and a large number spend the money by going to India and getting wasted. From the looks of Yoav Shamir’s meandering and superficial but always fascinating film, Israeli vets are a veritable cottage industry in India’s mountainous north and the beach towns in the state of Goa.
One senses Shamir (“Checkpoint”) would like to attribute this epidemic of escapism to the pent-up pressure of being part of an occupying military force. But he collects barely a smidgen of evidence.
The young men interviewed on camera are invariably stoned and not especially insightful. What does come through, as the film progresses, is a distasteful image of young Israeli men as spoiled, decadent bullies.
Fortunately, we spend some quality time with Danny Winderbaum, who runs a Chabad house in northern India and is adept at rescuing drug cases and putting them on a better path, and Hilik Magnus, an ex-Mossad agent retained by parents to lasso their flipped-out kids.
The doc, which aired on British television in May and is slated for U.S. broadcast later this year, receives its U.S. premiere at the festival in a co-presentation with the Hub at the JCCSF.
“Bilin My Love” gives us the view from the other end of the Uzi and the tank, courtesy of an Israeli with a conscience. Shai Carmela Pollak went to the village of Bilin originally to protest the annexation of Palestinian land in conjunction with the erection of the separation barrier.
He began filming marches and other acts of nonviolent resistance, while also being an active participant. The most amazing sequences — especially for Americans used to documentary makers keeping a distance — are Pollak’s heated exchanges with Israeli commanding officers in the middle of demonstrations. No U.S. TV network has the access or time to gain this ground-level perspective.
“Bilin” — receiving its U.S. premiere in a co-presentation with Jewish Voice for Peace, American Friends Service Committee and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at U.C. Berkeley — is not a great film, but it is a revelation.
It shows us a different Palestinian face than we are used to, as well as Israeli soldiers doing a thankless job. It’s no wonder that Goa has such an attraction.
“To See If I’m Smiling” screens with “Facing the Wind” 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 30 at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, 4:15 p.m. Aug. 5 at the CineArts @ Palo Alto Square and 7 p.m. Aug. 7 at the Roda Theatre at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.
“Flipping Out” screens 9:30 p.m. Aug. 2 at the JCC in San Francisco and Aug. 3 at the Roda Theatre.
“Bilin My Love” screens 9:45 p.m. Tuesday, July 29 at the Castro Theatre, 4:15 p.m. Aug. 2 at the Roda Theatre and 12 p.m. Aug. 9 at the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael. Tickets for each: $10-$12. Information: www.sfjff.org.