“In 1947, the United Nations voted to partition Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states.” Since the separation, this caused a divide between the perspectives of both parties, where Israelis considered this a War of independence, while Palestinians called it a catastrophe, ‘Nakba’. The film documentary Tantura, directed Alon Schwarz, focuses on the village of the name of the film title, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, which runs between January 20 to 30, 2022.
The story of Tantura is told from the perspective several Palestinian inhabitants who lived a life in the village as well as interviews from Israeli war soldiers. Tantura was known as a Palestinian Arab village on the Mediterranean coast of Palestine up until 1948 during the Arab-Israeli war. The Alexandroni Brigade, part of the Israeli Defense Forces, launched an attack to overthrow the village of Tantura.
Teddy Katz wrote a graduate thesis that was well-received by the academics in the examination of the Tantura massacre in the 1948 war. This controversial thesis was condemned by Israeli war soldiers and was sued for libel and defamation after decides of silence and self-perseverance from this event. This film aims to focus on the claims from Katz’ thesis as an introspective look by giving the opportunity to those who stayed silent about the events in Tantura.
The documentary features multiple interviews and stories from both sides of the war, retelling what they remembered during the battle of Tantura. Over 2 years’ worth of audio tapes were recorded and documented by a journalist who gave this documentary access to the interviewees’ testimonies as well as the names that they were able to track down and further hear their sides of the story.
Some very hard-hitting questions were answered with some contradictory statements depending on who was being interviewed, which is expected given the sensitive subject matter of this event. An example of the discussion was whether the soldiers considered the killings simply a behavior of the people, or the behaviour of a murderer, and how their lives are affected after experiencing these traumatic events.
A majority of these interviews are from the Israeli’s point of view, which is why most of the film challenges the taboo subject of ‘Nakba’ in Tantura in the Israeli society. Many of those involved choose not to remember what has happened nor wonder whether they did the right thing at that time. The responses often indicate that the event existed, and it happened and that was it.
Alon Schwarz and his film crew really pushed the limits of finding as much information as they possibly could to document the events without trying to impose their own biases to retain the authenticity of what the interviewees remembered in their stories. Having to hear the audio tapes and making the efforts to speak with the war veterans in person adds to the credibility of the discussion of this historic topic. The timing of this release in the 21st century is becoming more relevant today as the next generation of Palestinian refugees are fleeing from Syria, experiencing a similar fate of what their parents and grandparents endured during 1948.
Tantura’s events have been well publicized to the point that this part of history could not be ignored from. This film aims to address any unanswered rumours and myths that contribute to the thesis Katz submitted back in the 1990s. It would be difficult to remain silent as if the event never happened after its reveal, which is why giving the opportunity to hear both sides of the story help acknowledge what happened in order to learn from it.
While Tantura was known to be a very small village, it is still a significant part of history in the War of Independence to be ignored. Having a film documentary document this for viewers and researchers who want to learn more about this war gives Tantura the recognition of the people who existed before it. Seeing the historic photos, videos, and the interviewees put together in a well thought out documentary makes this one a great stand out in the category of World Cinema Doc Competition for the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Be sure to check this one out as it is released on January 20, 2022.