Israeli women soldiers give shocking testimonies about Israeli army (Full Documentary, 2007)

A personal account of female soldiers about their life in the Israeli Army, the only one to draw women for mandatory military service.
A female point of view on the drama of an unending war, on the moral challenges they faced at the encounter with the Palestinian population. Questions that were not dealt with during the service are raised today with great pain - and courage. A female point of view on the drama of an unending war, on the moral challenges the soldiers faced at the encounter with the Palestinian population. The young women look back critically at the way they handled the power that was placed in their hands at the young age of eighteen. Did they really smile in the pictures?
In 1988 the filmmaker served herself in the Israeli Defence Force in the Occupied Territories. 'How could I ever think I'd forget...' is what one of the young women asks herself at then end of this film.

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Their name are Meytal, Rotem, Inbar, Dana, Tal, Libi, they have one thing in common, having served the Israeli Defense Forces. In Israel, the national military service is mandatory for all Israeli citizens over the age of 18, male and female.
Through the different stories of these women, the documentary raises the question of the place of women in the army, a world historically of men, but also and more broadly the question of the group and what the human is able to do to assert its place .
These young women from the top of their 18 years, will discover a world completely different from their daily life in the ultra secured state that is Isreal. First of all, entering this military space will instinctively lead them to erase their femininity and copy the behavior of men. Furthermore, joining the army will also lead them to participate in a group dynamic, based on their belonging to Israel. Some of them will commit atrocious acts during this endless conflict with Palestine, which they would certainly never have thought of being able to undertake.
In fact, for some of them, the pride of serving their country and doing "good" will soon give way to a feeling of disillusionment and fear when faced with the reality of the horrors of war.
With impressive candor they talk about what they saw and what they did; the way they tried to make sense of this ‘other world’, and how they tried to reconcile their experiences with the self they were familiar with, stripped of army uniform. However, the documentary does not seek to excuse or justify the acts that were committed in the West Bank during this period since the first Palestinian uprising.
"To See if I’m Smiling" powerfully explores the way gender, ethics, power and moral responsibility interact in times of war. Its rare tapestry of women’s testimonies leaves us to ponder some of the most burning questions of our times. It is not only a story about women in the Israeli army and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but a universal story, about war and its atrocities and what it does to people.

Original title: To See if I'm Smiling
A film by Tamar Yarom
A Tamar Yarom Production

© 2007, Licensed by First Hand Films

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