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Tantura

Play trailer Poster for Tantura 2022 1h 35m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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94% Tomatometer 31 Reviews 93% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
The tape-recorded words "erase it" take on new weight in the context of history and war. When the State of Israel was established in 1948, war broke out and hundreds of Palestinian villages were depopulated in its aftermath. Israelis know this as the War of Independence. Palestinians call it "Al Nakba" (the Catastrophe). In the late 1990s, graduate student Teddy Katz conducted research into a large-scale massacre that had allegedly occurred in the village of Tantura in 1948. His work later came under attack and his reputation was ruined, but 140 hours of audio testimonies remain. Director Alon Schwarz revisits former Israeli soldiers of the Alexandroni Brigade as well as Palestinian residents in an effort to re-examine what happened in Tantura and explore why the Nakba is taboo in Israeli society. The ex-soldiers, now in their 90s, recall unsettling acts of war while disquietly pausing at points they either don't remember or won't speak of. Audio from Katz's 20-year-old interviews cuts through the silence of self-preservation and exposes the ways in which power, silencing, and protected narratives can sculpt history.

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Tantura

Tantura

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Critics Consensus

Tantura dives into a man's struggle to reckon with events that some may call means to freedom and others a massacre -- the birth story of many, if not all, civilizations.

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Critics Reviews

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Maxwell Rabb Chicago Reader 05/17/2023
The documentary reevaluates the standards of truth, interrogating Israel’s dismissal of these events to begin a new, compelling conversation about Tantura. Go to Full Review Carlos Aguilar Los Angeles Times 12/02/2022
A damning exposé of a nation unwilling to admit its primordial sins. Go to Full Review Siddhant Adlakha IndieWire 12/01/2022
B-
When “Tantura” finally moves into its final act, the wider emotional ripple effects of its subject matter are difficult to avoid, as the question shifts from what is remembered to who is allowed to remember (and be remembered) in the first place. Go to Full Review David Bax Battleship Pretension 08/01/2023
Over and over again, Tantura underlines, highlights and italicizes the saying, usually attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, that history is a lie agreed upon. Go to Full Review Joanne Laurier World Socialist Web Site 01/15/2023
Given the current official state of Israeli politics, with a new coalition government that includes a fascist party, Schwarz’s effort took some courage. Go to Full Review Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat Spirituality & Practice 12/13/2022
5/5
Documentary about the conflicting accounts of the genocide in a Palestinian village by Israeli troops, revealing the power of denial. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Deena C Mar 3 Warning: Confessions of Israeli soldiers openly admitted and laughing about burning, raping and killing Palestinians. A stark parallel to the events happening today in the continued oppression again palestinians by an ethnostate brokered by the English. See more Will S 01/15/2024 Anyone interested in Israel should see this. It should be assigned in Israel's schools for the equivalent of eighth grade. It is not just a documentary about a massacre and a cover-up; it's about memory, both personal and institutional. See more Nunuvyo B 01/02/2024 Fascinating movie. Reminds me of The Act of Killing where you see murders talk about what they did as if it was no more serious that mowing the lawn. Shows just how delusional Israelis have to be in order to avoid dealing with what horrors they inflicted on the Palestinians on and before 1948. A must watch for anyone that is still clueless about the true history of Israel. See more Thomas S 11/16/2023 A side of the story rarely told. Although this not the most compelling documentary, it's an important insight into attitudes towards an oppressed people, and sometimes a total disregard for their suffering. See more Julia D 08/03/2023 Making a lot of very small pieces of highly contested evidence, this plays to racists who want to believe in a massacre and ignores the context of a genocidal, illegal war by seven Arab nations in 1948 with the avowed intention of stealing land Jews had bought back from the colonialist Turks and of killing the Jews. See more margaret k 01/07/2023 A brave film. A brilliant and heartbreaking tale of a massacre of innocent Palestinians in the seaside village of Tantura. And the heartbreaking parallel story of what happened to the Israeli graduate student, Teddy Katz, whose research revealed details of this mass murder. The collective depth of toxic denial following Mr. Katz's revelations by Israeli academia & the powerful national government costs Katz his academic profession. For years, these "powers" tried to remove all traces of this 1948 mass murder. Thankfully, because of Mr. Katz and this remarkable film's director, we see and hear evidence of the massacre of innocent people & the Truth Wills Out. See more Read all reviews
Tantura

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Cast & Crew

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Alon Schwarz

Director

Teddy Katz

Self

Halil Efrat

Writer

Alon Schwarz

Writer

Shaul Schwarz

Writer

Maiken Baird

Producer

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Tantura

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Movie Info

Synopsis The tape-recorded words "erase it" take on new weight in the context of history and war. When the State of Israel was established in 1948, war broke out and hundreds of Palestinian villages were depopulated in its aftermath. Israelis know this as the War of Independence. Palestinians call it "Al Nakba" (the Catastrophe). In the late 1990s, graduate student Teddy Katz conducted research into a large-scale massacre that had allegedly occurred in the village of Tantura in 1948. His work later came under attack and his reputation was ruined, but 140 hours of audio testimonies remain. Director Alon Schwarz revisits former Israeli soldiers of the Alexandroni Brigade as well as Palestinian residents in an effort to re-examine what happened in Tantura and explore why the Nakba is taboo in Israeli society. The ex-soldiers, now in their 90s, recall unsettling acts of war while disquietly pausing at points they either don't remember or won't speak of. Audio from Katz's 20-year-old interviews cuts through the silence of self-preservation and exposes the ways in which power, silencing, and protected narratives can sculpt history.
Director
Alon Schwarz
Producer
Maiken Baird, Alon Schwarz, Shaul Schwarz
Screenwriter
Halil Efrat, Alon Schwarz, Shaul Schwarz
Distributor
Reel Peak Films
Production Co
Reel Peak Films
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
Hebrew
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 2, 2022, Limited
Runtime
1h 35m
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