Defamation (film)
Encyclopedia
Defamation is a 2009 documentary film
by award-winning filmmaker Yoav Shamir
. The film examines antisemitism, and in particular the way perceptions of antisemitism affect Israeli and U.S. politics. The film won Best Documentary Feature Film at the 2009 Asia Pacific Screen Awards
.
and the possibility that some Jews
' preoccupation with the past -- i.e., the Holocaust
-- is preventing progress in the here and now.
Shamir decided to make this film after a critic of an earlier film accused him of antisemitism.
Filmmaker Yoav Shamir states in the beginning of the film that as an Israeli he has never experienced antisemitism himself and wants to learn more about it since references to antisemitism in countries all over the world are common in the Israeli media
.
The film includes interviews with Abraham Foxman
, the head of the Anti-Defamation League
, John J. Mearsheimer, co-author of New York Times Best Seller The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
, Norman Finkelstein
, a critic of Israeli government policy as well as many others. The film also follows a group of Israeli high school students on a class trip to Europe where they tour Auschwitz, as well as a number of other notable Holocaust locations.
The film notes that in 2007, the ADL reported a spike in antisemitism, claiming that there were 1,500 anti-Semitic incidents in the United States, yet when Shamir contacts the ADL they can only list minor incidents such as websites with inflammatory comments, letters from employees denied time off for a Jewish holiday, or people offended by a cop's use of the word "Jew". A case presented concerns a group of African American
boys, aged between 10 and 12, who pelted a school bus with rocks, breaking two windows.
Shamir also interviews a rabbi who says that the hypervigilance of the ADL inflames relations between Jews and non-Jews in the United States. He also finds that among his interviewees there is more sensitivity to antisemitism among secular Jews than religious ones.
lists 13 positive and 3 negative reviews, giving it an 81% approval rating.
After the film was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival
, the Anti-Defamation League issued a statement denouncing the film, stating that it "belittles the issue (of antisemitism) ... and cheapens the Holocaust. It is Shamir's perverse, personal, political perspective and a missed opportunity to document a serious and important issue."
New York Times reviewer Neil Genzlinger
states that while these ideas deserve a thorough and dispassionate discussion, Shamir has not provided it in this film. "...it feels like just another day on the Op-Ed page."
Boston Globe reviewer Ty Burr wrote "Unlike many agit-docs, Defamation wants to get you thinking, and it knows the epithet “self-hating Jew’’ can be used as a club by those who don’t want you to think at all."
He reviewed the film positively, highlighting how the film argues that raising Israelis to define themselves as a nation of victims is a disservice to modern complexities - and, not coincidentally, makes it almost impossible to see any other people as victims. “Who would I like to kill?’’ one Israeli girl tearfully tells Shamir after touring Auschwitz. “All of them.’’ The filmmaker gently asks us to ask ourselves if this is what “never forget’’ should really mean.
The review in the Los Angeles Times
praised the documentary for showing "how accusations of anti-Semitism can easily be exploited for political purposes. The reviewer commended the filmaker for his fairness writing that "even though Defamation, which is sprinkled with unexpected moments of wry humor, will be inescapably controversial, Yoav Shamir
strives admirably to be evenhanded."
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
by award-winning filmmaker Yoav Shamir
Yoav Shamir
' is an Israeli documentary filmmaker most noted for the films Checkpoint and Defamation. Shamir's films have received awards from independent film festivals including Best Feature Documentary at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, Best International Documentary at the Hot Docs...
. The film examines antisemitism, and in particular the way perceptions of antisemitism affect Israeli and U.S. politics. The film won Best Documentary Feature Film at the 2009 Asia Pacific Screen Awards
Asia Pacific Screen Awards
The Asia Pacific Screen Awards is an international cultural initiative of the State Government of Queensland, Australia, through Events Queensland, to honour and promote the films, actors, directors, and cultures of Asia-Pacific to a global audience and to realise the objectives of UNESCO to...
.
Content
The film examines whether "'anti-Semitic' has become an all purpose label for anyone who criticizes IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and the possibility that some Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
' preoccupation with the past -- i.e., the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
-- is preventing progress in the here and now.
Shamir decided to make this film after a critic of an earlier film accused him of antisemitism.
Filmmaker Yoav Shamir states in the beginning of the film that as an Israeli he has never experienced antisemitism himself and wants to learn more about it since references to antisemitism in countries all over the world are common in the Israeli media
Israeli media
-History:The history of the press began in 1863 during the Ottoman Empire and before the creation of Israel, with Ha-Levanon and Havazzelet being the first weekly Hebrew newspapers established. In 1952, the International Publishing Company J-M Ltd was established as the countries first book publisher...
.
The film includes interviews with Abraham Foxman
Abraham Foxman
Abraham H. Foxman is the National Director of the Anti-Defamation League.-Early life:Foxman, an only son, was born in Baranovichi, just months after the USSR took the town from Poland in the Nazi-Soviet Pact and incorporated it into the BSSR. The town is now in Belarus...
, the head of the Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
, John J. Mearsheimer, co-author of New York Times Best Seller The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy is the title of a book by John Mearsheimer, Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, and Stephen Walt, Professor of International Relations at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, published in late August 2007...
, Norman Finkelstein
Norman Finkelstein
Norman Gary Finkelstein is an American political scientist, activist and author. His primary fields of research are the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the politics of the Holocaust. He is a graduate of Binghamton University and received his Ph.D in Political Science from Princeton University...
, a critic of Israeli government policy as well as many others. The film also follows a group of Israeli high school students on a class trip to Europe where they tour Auschwitz, as well as a number of other notable Holocaust locations.
The film notes that in 2007, the ADL reported a spike in antisemitism, claiming that there were 1,500 anti-Semitic incidents in the United States, yet when Shamir contacts the ADL they can only list minor incidents such as websites with inflammatory comments, letters from employees denied time off for a Jewish holiday, or people offended by a cop's use of the word "Jew". A case presented concerns a group of African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
boys, aged between 10 and 12, who pelted a school bus with rocks, breaking two windows.
Shamir also interviews a rabbi who says that the hypervigilance of the ADL inflames relations between Jews and non-Jews in the United States. He also finds that among his interviewees there is more sensitivity to antisemitism among secular Jews than religious ones.
Reception
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
lists 13 positive and 3 negative reviews, giving it an 81% approval rating.
After the film was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
, the Anti-Defamation League issued a statement denouncing the film, stating that it "belittles the issue (of antisemitism) ... and cheapens the Holocaust. It is Shamir's perverse, personal, political perspective and a missed opportunity to document a serious and important issue."
New York Times reviewer Neil Genzlinger
Neil Genzlinger
Neil Genzlinger is an American playwright, editor, book reviewer, and theatre and television critic. He frequently writes for The New York Times, where he is a copy editor....
states that while these ideas deserve a thorough and dispassionate discussion, Shamir has not provided it in this film. "...it feels like just another day on the Op-Ed page."
Boston Globe reviewer Ty Burr wrote "Unlike many agit-docs, Defamation wants to get you thinking, and it knows the epithet “self-hating Jew’’ can be used as a club by those who don’t want you to think at all."
He reviewed the film positively, highlighting how the film argues that raising Israelis to define themselves as a nation of victims is a disservice to modern complexities - and, not coincidentally, makes it almost impossible to see any other people as victims. “Who would I like to kill?’’ one Israeli girl tearfully tells Shamir after touring Auschwitz. “All of them.’’ The filmmaker gently asks us to ask ourselves if this is what “never forget’’ should really mean.
The review in the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
praised the documentary for showing "how accusations of anti-Semitism can easily be exploited for political purposes. The reviewer commended the filmaker for his fairness writing that "even though Defamation, which is sprinkled with unexpected moments of wry humor, will be inescapably controversial, Yoav Shamir
Yoav Shamir
' is an Israeli documentary filmmaker most noted for the films Checkpoint and Defamation. Shamir's films have received awards from independent film festivals including Best Feature Documentary at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, Best International Documentary at the Hot Docs...
strives admirably to be evenhanded."
External links
- Defamation from First Run FeaturesFirst Run FeaturesFirst Run Features is an independent film distribution company based in New York City. First Run was founded in 1979 by a group of filmmakers in order to advance the distribution of independent film...
.com - Defamation from Hartley Film FoundationHartley Film FoundationHartley Film Foundation, is a 501--3 organization dedicated to cultivation and support of documentaries on world religions and spirituality. This non-profit organization supports filmmakers through seed grants with fiscal sponsorship...