We Were the Others
Courtesy Ruth Films
הדווקאים | Hadas Ayalon | Israel, 2019 | Hebrew/English (English subtitles) | Documentary | 54m | DCP | IMDB | Distributor/Sales: Ruth Films | Festival marketing sample: DocAviv 2019 | Trailer | DocuShuk
Description: Gay male life of the sixties and seventies is explored through the testimonies of seven Israelis who lived through the period. Some of the participants were founding members of the Aguda, established in 1975 as Israel’s pioneering LGBT organisation. One of the interviewees is journalist/author/poet Yotam Reuveni who came out in a series of articles in the weekly supplement of the mass circulation Yediot Ahronot in the seventies. Two of the men now live abroad. One, an army officer and an aviation engineer, emigrated to Canada following his discharge from the army due to his homosexuality.
Merits: While lesbians were also among the founders of the Aguda, Ayalon chose to focus entirely on the male experience. Her film makes great use of archival footage, particularly clips from Amos Guttman’s pioneering gay films of the seventies and eighties. While I would have preferred the clips to have been credited as they were being presented (they are in the final credits,) care was taken to select scenes that reflected the reminiscences of the men. Some of her interlocutors movingly describe their struggle with love and intimacy after years of hiding and furtive sexual encounters. We Were the Others is a great companion piece to Yair Quedar’s excellent 2009 documentary, Gay Days.
Rating: LGBT themes.