THE GOOD SOLDIER (2022)

A Silvina Landsman Film
Israel/France/Germany/87 minutes/Documentary

In her documentary The Good Soldier, Silvina Landsmann, a Tel Aviv-based filmmaker, takes us inside the work of Breaking the Silence, an organization of former IDF combat soldiers who collect and publish testimonies of soldiers who have served in the Occupied Territories. The Good Soldier raises questions about Israel’s dynamic mainstream and the challenges of confronting it.

Landsmann's documentary is a compelling deep dive into the heart of Breaking the Silence’s work (guided tours of Hebron and the surrounding area, public lectures and house meetings, internal staff meetings and media strategy) as well as the organization's struggle to justify its very existence, both internally and to the broader public. The issues the organization constantly grapples with continue to be highly relevant to current events and political debate.

Synopsis

DIRECTOR's BIO

A Tel Aviv-based documentary filmmaker who founded her own independent production company (Comino Films) to produce her films, Silvina Landsmann’s cinematographic method is based on observation and listening combined with a social perspective. Her films, which have garnered international recognition, provide a window into Israel's tumultuous reality. The Good Soldier is her sixth film. Her first film, Collège, premiered at the Cinéma du Rèel Film Festival 1998, and was awarded the Grand Prix at Les Ecrans Documentaires Film Festival.

Her films have continued to receive international recognition: Post Partum (2005); Unto Thy Land (Grand Prix des Ateliers d'Art de France 2007); Soldier/Citizen (World Premiere and Special Mention at the Berlinale 2012 Forum); Hotline (World Premiere at the Berlinale 2015 Forum; Best Documentary Film Award at the 2015 Jerusalem Film Festival).