Innocence

Making a war is a storyteller’s job. A good story is crucial to legitimize the use of military force. That’s why militaries need strong promotion and Israel is a model country in promoting its military ventures. We’ve successfully colonized, occupied and overgrown, and only got stronger and more accepted amongst the nations. Our history as persecuted Jews, and our enlightened democracy are both in use in our solid PR kit. But before pitching our story to the world, we need to pitch it to our children. As moral corruption linked with apartheid thrives, avoiding military service becomes a threat. For some children we’ll offer benefits, for most we’ll sell fictitious promises. Every child is screened to serve with bearable pressure and an adjusted amount of exposure to violence. ‘Innocence’ tells the story of children who resisted to be enlisted but capitulated. Their stories were never told as they died during their service. Through a narration based on their haunting diaries, the film depicts their inner turmoil. It interweaves first-hand military images, key moments from childhood until enlistment and home videos of the deceased soldiers whose stories are silenced and seen as a national threat.

  • Guy Davidi
    Director
  • Guy Davidi
    Writer
  • Sigrid Jonsson Dyekjaer
    Producer
  • Hilla Medalia
    Producer
  • Guy Davidi
    Editor
  • Avner Shahaf
    Cinematography
  • Guy Davidi
    Cinematography
  • Snorri Hallgrimsson
    Original Music
  • Heikki Kossi
    Sound Design
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Genres:
    Human Rights, Documentary, Militarism, Geopolitics
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 40 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    September 5, 2022
  • Country of Origin:
    Denmark
  • Language:
    Hebrew
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Venice International Film Festival
    Venice
    Italy
    September 5, 2022
    World Premiere
    Horizon Section
  • IDFA (International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam)
    Amsterdam
    Netherlands
    November 10, 2022
    Dutch Premiere
  • Chicago International Film Festival
    Chicago
    United States
    North American Premiere
  • Hot Docs International Documentary Festival
    Toronto
    Canada
    April 30, 2023
    Canadian Premiere
Distribution Information
  • Cinema Politica
    Distributor
    Country: Canada
Director Biography - Guy Davidi

Guy Davidi (director) born (1978) in Jaffa, Israel. Academy Award Nominated and Emmy Award Winner Israeli filmmaker Guy Davidi has been directing, shooting, and editing films since the age of sixteen. His documentaries have been screened in dozens of international film festivals, venues, cinemas, and TV channels. His short films include titles such as IN WORKING PROGRESS (2006), WOMEN DEFYING BARRIERS (2009) and HIGH HOPES (2014) which features music by Pink Floyd.

In 2010 he released his first feature documentary INTERRUPTED STREAMS (2010). His second feature 5 BROKEN CAMERAS (2012) was directed with Palestinian, self-taught camera-man Emad Burnat. The film had an exemplary international success. It was nominated to the Oscar 2013 in the Best Documentary section and has won the 2013 International Emmy Award for Best Documentary. Davidi won the prize for Best Director at the Sundance Film Festival as well as the Audience and Jury awards at IDFA in Amsterdam and the Best Documentary in Cinema Eye Honors. In addition, the film won awards in more than 40 festivals worldwide, it was sold to numerous TV stations and commercially distributed in theaters across Europe, Asia and North America. His third feature length MIXED FEELING" (2016) won the Best Documentary Award in Epos film Festival in Tel Aviv. After moving to Copenhagen in 2016, Davidi started working with Copenhagenbased company "Danish Documentary", earlier led by Sigrid Dyekjær (Oscar Nominated for ‘THE CAVE’) who has produced his new feature documentary INNOCENCE. To honor his documentary work IMDB has selected Davidi to be on the list of the 'Bravest documentary filmmakers’ along with Michael Moore and Werner
Herzog.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Nothing touches me more than a child’s sensitivity when they discover the world, and nothing hurts me more than seeing it getting crushed. Israel is not a place that values innocence. Its militarized identity requires the breaking down and distorting of the gentle lines of childhood. This commitment to violence has many victims, but there’s also a hidden tragedy - the collapse of parenthood. Every war relies on parents’ betrayal of their children. But in a militarized society, even the most free-spirited
parents are bound to fail to protect the spirit of their children.
I still believe that if we put our love for our children first, it shall overwhelm the strongest political, economic powers.