Amos Gitai denounces boycott call at Venice Film Festival - feature

About 300 international filmmakers signed an open letter calling for the Venice Film Festival to boycott two movies by Israeli filmmakers that are being screened there this week: Of Dogs and Men by Dani Rosenberg and Why War by Amos Gitai.

Gitai denounced their call, saying that his film should be shown and that he has devoted his career to fostering dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. 

The filmmakers who called for the boycott said in their letter: “Of Dogs and Men, shot in the midst of Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza, whitewashes the genocide. Like Of Dogs and Men, Why War was created by complicit Israeli production companies that contribute to apartheid, occupation, and now genocide through their silence or active participation in artwashing.”

Among the signatories were Ophir Award-winning actor Saleh Bakri, from Jaffa, and Nazareth-born, Oscar-nominated director Hany Abu-Assad, who currently lives in the Netherlands.  

Gitai’s Why War, which is being shown out of competition, looks at a correspondence between Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud regarding why countries continue to fight wars. Its stars include Mathieu Amalric, Irène Jacob, Keren Mor, and Yael Abecassis.

In statements quoted by Deadline.com from a press conference before one of the screenings of his film, Gitai said that both the Hamas government in Gaza and the current Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needed to go so that the current war could end. 

“The two groups have to understand that the proposition of being under Hamas is not a good proposition. There will be no rights for women, no Christians of the Orient, no LGBT rights, nothing. The Iranians already went this way when they got behind Khomeini and they’re stuck with it,” he was quoted as saying.

“We, the Israelis, have to get rid of the extremist, nationalist, right-wing, racist, ultra-religious government that we have. The two groups have to do some cleaning on their stuff, and then maybe a new bridge can be constructed. It’s not there now, but we have to keep the idea that one day it will come, and I think it will come. What is the option?”

He also said that he had not accepted money from any of the film funds that received money from the Israeli government. 

Of Dogs and Men tells the story about a girl (Ori Avinoam) who returns to Kibbutz Nir Oz to search for her lost dog following the October 7 massacre, in which over 1,200 were killed and about 240 were kidnapped by Hamas. It was filmed in and around Nir Oz in November 2023 and features many residents of the area. It will be shown in the prestigious Horizons section of the festival. 

Rosenberg said in a director’s statement published on the festival website: “The horrific attack on October 7 and the ensuing war unleashed unimaginable suffering, defying comprehension. The humanity, or denial of humanity within them is profoundly disturbing. Can these events even be represented, recounted, or narrated? 

“This was our daunting question as we began filming in late October, acutely aware that cinema had crashed into the wall of reality… As time passed and the images became part of our collective consciousness, I felt compelled to bear witness to reality firsthand. I sought to open a window onto these experiences and to try to tell a story about those trapped in the relentless cycle of bloodshed. 

“We began filming on Kibbutz Nir Oz – a community devastated by the killing and kidnapping of more than a quarter of its members – and alongside the Gaza border… We aim to honor the experiences of all who endure the ravages of war, striving to portray their humanity amidst the darkness.”

Both films were still included in the festival program at press time. 

WHILE IT isn’t an Israeli film, another movie showing at Venice this year, Tim Fehlbaum’s September 5, looks at the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches by the Black September terrorist group at the 1972 Munich Olympics. 

The movie is a dramatized version of events, told from the point of view of the sports broadcasting team from ABC News, who suddenly found themselves covering a much weightier story. The movie has received positive reviews and has drawn comparisons to Paul Greengrass’s United 93, which portrayed what went on aboard one of the flights hijacked by Islamic terrorists on 9/11. 

The festival continues until September 7. In the past, many Israeli films have won prizes at Venice, including Samuel Maoz’s Lebanon, which won the festival’s top award, the Golden Lion, in 2009.