Holding Liat
Directed by Brandon Kramer
Like Of Dogs and Men, Holding Liat is built around the family members of an Israeli hostage (also from Kibbutz Nir Oz), but unlike that film, it is fully a documentary. Holding Liat follows the family of Liat Beinin Atzili, who was abducted along with her husband, Aviv Atzili. The film focuses most closely on Liat’s father, Yehuda Beinin, but weaves a tapestry from the perspectives of many of her family members about the war and their feelings toward Israel amidst this familial crisis.
A solid chunk of Holding Liat’s first act follows Yehuda alongside Liat’s son, Netta Atzili, and sister, Tal Beinin, as they travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with various members of Congress in an effort to help get Liat returned. The film is very effective in conveying the immediacy of the hostage situation to the Beinin family. The opinions of the various family members run the gamut of stances on the war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more broadly; Netta has little time for those sympathizing with the people who abducted his mother, while Yehuda’s brother, Joel, has made his career as an academic intensely critical of Israel. The documentary reflects the varied opinions of real people in a way that most screenwriters would fail to capture.
Midway through the film, Liat is returned, while Aviv is revealed to have been killed by his captors. The documentary necessarily shifts some of its focus to Liat herself, and her media appearances and advocacy speaking as a released hostage. Holding Liat is a compassionate piece of work and a valuable reminder that, on any given “side” of a conflict as contested as this one, opinions are rarely uniform, even within one family.