BICOM

In an impressive achievement for the country’s film industry, two Israeli films have been nominated for an Oscar in the best documentary feature category. Although four Israeli films were nominated as the best foreign language film between 2008-12, this is the first time that any Israeli film has been nominated in the documentary feature category since 1974.

The two films nominated deal with different aspects of Israel’s security situation and the conflict in the region. “The Gatekeepers”, directed by Dror Moreh features candid interviews with the six former heads of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency, who are often seen in the film grappling with the morality of their actions. The position itself is so sensitive that until recently the identity of the Shin Bet head was only publicly disclosed upon their retirement. “The Gatekeepers” includes the accounts of Ami Ayalon, Avi Dichter, Yuval Diskin, Carmi Gillon, Yaacov Peri and Avraham Shalom woven together with animated graphics, archival photos and news clippings, to reveal their behind-the-scenes calculations.

Meanwhile, the other Oscar nominee “5 Broken Cameras” is directed by Israeli-Palestinian duo Guy Davidi and Emat Burnat. The film revolves around amateur footage taken by Burnat who bought a camera to film family events but ended up documenting six years of family life against the backdrop of weekly Palestinian demonstrations against the construction of Israel’s West Bank security fence through his home village of Bili’in. Both films received financial support from the Israeli government, which has reportedly contributed to film festivals in Egypt, Dubai and Qatar declining to screen “5 Broken Cameras.”

The two Israeli titles will be competing against two American films and a South African documentary when the 85^th Annual Academy Awards are announced on 24 February.