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To See If I’m Smiling (Lir’ot Im Ani Mehayechet)
A film by Tamar Yarom
Israel, 2007, 59 minutes, Color, VHS/DVD, Hebrew, Subtitled
Order No. W08937

Israel is the only country in the world where 18-year-old girls are drafted for compulsory military service. In this award-winning documentary, the frank testimonials of six female Israeli soldiers stationed in Gaza and the West Bank pack a powerful emotional punch. The young women revisit their tours of duty in the occupied territories with surprising honesty and strip bare stereotypes of gender differences in the military. The former soldiers share shocking moments of negligence, flippancy, immaturity and power-tripping as they describe atrocities they witnessed and participated in.

The psychological transformation that these young women underwent as a result of military service is both upsetting and riveting. The culture of war transforms people: personalities change, moral codes are subverted, values are supplanted and masks are constructed to dull the pain of what they did and didn't do in uniform. At a time when women in the military are increasingly on the frontlines, and the actions of soldiers all over the world are being questioned, this powerful film explores the ways that gender, ethics and moral responsibility intersect during war.



AWARDS, FESTIVALS, & SCREENINGS


Int’l Doc FF Amsterdam (IDFA), Silver Wolf Award
Int’l Doc FF, Amsterdam (IDFA), Audience Award
Hot Docs, Special Jury Price
Sarasota FF, Special Documentary Jury Prize
Haifa Int’l FF, Best Documentary
Dokufest, Best Feature Documentary
Israeli Documentary Competition, Best Documentary
Montpellier Festival, Documentary Prize

  • New Orleans Middle East FF
  • Boston Jewish FF
  • Washington Jewish FF
  • Palm Beach Jewish FF
  • Hot Docs Canadian Int'l FF
  • Sarasota FFl
  • Calgary Jewish FF
  • Visual Arts Center, Richmond
  • Human Rights Watch Int'l Traveling FF
  • Human Rights Watch Int'l FF, NY
  • One World Int’l Human Rights Doc FF, Prague
  • FICCO, Festival Int'l of Contemporary Cinema, Mexico City
  • ZagrebDox - Int'l Doc FF, Croatia
  • Full Frame Doc FF
  • San Francisco Jewish FF
  • Toronto Jewish FF
  • DOXA Vancouver

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QUOTES

    "Like a short, sharp blow to the solar plexus, Tamar Yarom's [film] stuns with raw, unfiltered emotion."
    Ronnie Scheib
    Variety

    "Truly Powerful"
    George Robinson
    The Jewish Week

    “An unusual cinematic experience, courageous, piercing and sharp.”
    Haifa Int’l Film Festival

    “Yarom's approach to these soldiers' inconclusive misery is refreshingly personal.”
    Chris Barsanti
    Filmcritic.com

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    To See If I’m Smiling (Lir’ot Im Ani Mehayechet) is included in the following Special Collections.
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RELATED LINKS

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“A brave and powerful testimony to the corrosive effect of power.”
Silver Wolf Jury
Int’l Documentary Film Festival, Amsterdam (IDFA)
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FILMS ON THE MID-EAST Interested in gaining more insight and background on the current conflict in the Middle East? Check out WMM’s powerful documentaries made by and about women in that region, including MY LAND ZION and WOMEN IN STRUGGLE. More details.



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Women Make Movies is a multicultural, multiracial, non-profit media arts organization which facilitiates the production, promotion, distribution, and exhibition of independent films and videotapes by and about women. contact us