Objector

Molly Stuart | US, 2019 | English | Documentary | 75m | DCP | IMDB | Distributor/Sales: Java Films | Festival marketing sample: IDFA 2019 | Trailer

Description: Atalya Ben Abba is a Tel Aviv teenager who this film follows during the six months prior to her mandatory conscription to the Israeli army. She talks to her older brother, who obtained a psychiatric exemption. She joins Ta’ayush activists in supporting West Bank Palestinians harassed by settlers and the army. In time, her determination to resist conscription grows, despite the risks of imprisonment and social ostracism.  The parents initially urge her to reconsider. Eventually her mother decides to support her decision. An army tribunal rejects her petition for recognition of conscientious objector status and she is imprisoned in an army brig. She calls her parents during her confinement before being released after 119 days.

Merits: Ben Abba and her friends come across as intelligent, sympathetic and courageous young women in Stuart’s documentary. One oversight might be the film’s intended audience. Is the purpose to influence Israeli public attitudes towards their motivations or to present a critical view of Israeli policies to foreign audiences? The former objective is undermined by virtually having all the participants converse entirely in English.

Rating: Suitable for all audiences.