Oscar-Nominated Filmmaker Guy Davidi Brings ‘Innocence’ To IDFA, Powerful Doc That Questions Militarization Of Israeli Society
deadline.comGuy Davidi’s film Innocence is haunted by the words of Israeli soldiers who did not survive their mandatory military service. “Humans have an urge for destruction,” one of the soldiers notes, an indication of his deep skepticism about being forced to serve in the Israel Defense Forces.
Another says, “The killing repulses me.” Whether they harbor misgivings or not, every Israeli – male and female – must serve in the military when they reach 18.
Innocence, which played at IDFA in the Best of Fests category, examines the psychic impact of militarization that suffuses Israel, affecting individuals and the country as a whole, in Davidi’s view. “When you meet people who have served in the army, they are all injured,” Davidi tells Deadline. “We are an injured society.” Davidi, who co-directed the renowned 2010 documentary Five Broken Cameras, worked on Innocence for a decade.
The early years of the project were spent attempting to establish contact with families of soldiers who had killed themselves while serving in the IDF (according to the Times of Israel, suicide was the leading cause of death among active military in Israel in 2021 and 2020).
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