Tantura

Released Dec 2, 2022

1 hr. 35 min.

Documentary

List

94%

31 Reviews

Tomatometer

94%

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Audience Score

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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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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Will S

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.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/15/24

Full Review

Nunuvyo B

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.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/02/24

Full Review

Logaina L

This documentary shows the barbaric and inhumane actions of the Israeli army!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/16/23

Full Review

Thomas S

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.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/16/23

Full Review

Julia D

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.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/24

Full Review

Gillian M

Why were there so few Palestinians in this film? I came away with no sense of place or emotion for such an emotional subject, except for the plight of Teddy Katz, but even his story's fallout was underplayed. He had a breakdown and a number of his supporters were ostracised but I wouldn't have known this from watching the film. Was expecting something emotional and heart wrenching and this just wasn't…

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

10/22/23

Full Review

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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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Maxwell Rabb

Chicago Reader

The documentary reevaluates the standards of truth, interrogating Israel’s dismissal of these events to begin a new, compelling conversation about Tantura.

May 17, 2023

Full Review

Carlos Aguilar

Los Angeles Times

A damning exposé of a nation unwilling to admit its primordial sins.

Dec 2, 2022

Full Review

Siddhant Adlakha

indieWire

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.

Rated: B-

Dec 1, 2022

Full Review

David Bax

Battleship Pretension

Over and over again, Tantura underlines, highlights and italicizes the saying, usually attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, that history is a lie agreed upon.

Aug 1, 2023

Full Review

Joanne Laurier

World Socialist Web Site

Given the current official state of Israeli politics, with a new coalition government that includes a fascist party, Schwarz’s effort took some courage.

Jan 15, 2023

Full Review

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Spirituality & Practice

Documentary about the conflicting accounts of the genocide in a Palestinian village by Israeli troops, revealing the power of denial.

Rated: 5/5

Dec 13, 2022

Full Review

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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
Executive Producer: Steven H. Cohen, Barbara Dobkin, Eric Dobkin, Paula M. Froehle, Ian Orefice, Nathalie Seaver, Jamie Wolf
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

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