Israeli Movie: "Waltz with Bashir"

[Abou Samra]

I just discovered that an israeli animation movie about Sabra and Shatila is presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It's about the feelings of israeli soldiers about the massacre and it shows how israelis were complicits of the crime.

If you google it, the movie has a website.

[Boris®]

Israeli film at Cannes explores 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre
By Reuters
Tags: Cannes film festival

A daring new animated documentary follows Israeli director Ari Folman as he tries to piece together memories of the 1982 massacre of Palestinians in Beirut's Sabra and Shatila camps.

Folman was a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces when it invaded Lebanon earlier that year. It allowed Christian militiamen into the refugee camps and stood by as they went on a killing spree shortly after the assassination of their leader, Bashir Gemayel.

In "Waltz With Bashir," in competition at the Cannes film festival this year and screening as Israel celebrates its 60th anniversary, a soldier among those surrounding the camps witnesses the execution of a family by militiamen.
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It also features a reporter describing a telephone conversation he had with then Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon about rumors he was hearing of the massacre.

Sharon, who resigned as defense minister after a 1983 Israeli inquiry found he bore indirect responsibility for the killings, takes no action.

"Waltz With Bashir" is built around a series of animated reconstructions of real-life interviews Folman conducted with friends and fellow soldiers from the time, as he seeks to remember what his role was in the atrocity.

It portrays young draftees fighting in Lebanon, where many were killed or wounded, and the dreams and hallucinations that many had more than 20 years after the event.

The only non-animation footage is a short sequence at the end showing news photographs of the bodies of men, women and children lying in the streets of the camps after the killings.

"I didn't want you as the audience to go out of the theater after watching 'Waltz With Bashir' and think, yes, this is a cool animation film'," Folman told reporters in Cannes.

"These things happened ... thousands of people were killed, kids were killed, women were killed, old people were killed.

"In order to put the whole film into proportion, those 50 seconds were essential to me."

Parallels with Holocaust

One of the most surprising aspects of the film was the parallel a psychiatrist drew between the Sabra and Shatila massacre and the Holocaust, in which millions of Jews perished.

"The response [to the massacre] in Israel was so huge, in my point of view, because immediately after we had the press release of the first photos of the massacre," he said, when asked about the parallels. "For us Israelis, it was a direct connection to our Jewish history."

Folman insisted that his film was personal, not political, and did not uncover any hidden truths about the atrocity.

He laid the blame for the massacre directly on Christian militia fighters, although the movie does explore to what extent Israeli authorities were complicit.

"Common soldiers are always pawns in a game ... of leaders who play with them," he said.

The movie is one of 22 films in the main competition in Cannes, which was in its second day.

[Xguy]

here's the trailer:

YouTube - WALTZ WITH BASHIR - Trailer

[dodzi]

Originally Posted by Xguy

here's the trailer:

YouTube - WALTZ WITH BASHIR - Trailer

looks great, would love to see it!

[Dry Ice]

Waltz with Bashir

[zizou]

I watched a movie today which sadly will never be in cinemas in Beirut.
It is an animated documentary of the horrors of the 1982 Lebanon war.

It is made by israeli director Ari Folman who served in the war. He describes exactly what happened during sabra and shatila massacre and directs the blame at both the israeli leadership and phalangist militia.

here's a link to the website if you want to check out more info and watch the trailer:

Waltz with Bashir

it's intersting to know i'm handing my country/gov to murderers.

[Libnene Qu7]

Why would it be banned in Lebanon? Will it hurt Geagea's feelings?

[Anny]

Le film d'animation Valse avec Bachir, qui vient de remporter le Golden Globe du meilleur film étranger, raconte le chaos de la guerre du Liban.

Reportage | International | Nouvelles | Radio-Canada.ca

[aboulzouz]

Originally Posted by Anny

Le film d'animation Valse avec Bachir, qui vient de remporter le Golden Globe du meilleur film étranger, raconte le chaos de la guerre du Liban.

Reportage | International | Nouvelles | Radio-Canada.ca

An israeli movie and not a lebanese one.

This might help

Israeli Movie: "Waltz with Bashir"

[lebgirl]

Did anyone see this movie ? What do you all think ?

I saw it yesterday and in term of the animation, the graphics etc, I thought it was really well done ! now the story is surely bias but nevertheless, I really liked it and it was quite touching ! At the end of it, people in the room were really shocked that when the movie happened no one moved :P Americans who dont really know what happened see it from a different perspective than we would.

I recommend it to everyone despite it being bias... the graphics are great !