The documentary “Holy Redemption”, prepared under difficult conditions by the TRT World Research Team, was screened internationally at the 7th International Al Jazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival (AJB DOC) organized by Al Jazeera Balkans in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On the third day of the festival, of which Anadolu Agency (AA) is the Global Communications Partner, “Holy Occupation”, directed and produced by Jose Carlos Soares, Tanju Şahin and Aslıhan Eker Çakmak, and shot by the TRT World Research Team after a difficult process of infiltrating radical Israeli groups in the West Bank two months after the Gaza genocide that began on October 7, met with the audience.
Journalist Soares, in his statement to AA, stated that he saw and heard the truth during his time in the West Bank and said, “The documentary does not reflect our thoughts. You cannot find any personal thoughts anywhere during the 53 minutes. Only the real thoughts of the speakers.”
The producer of the documentary, Eker Çakmak, stated that the documentary tells the story of illegal settlers who usurped Palestinian lands by Israel, and said, “This documentary is achieving something new for the first time. For the first time, it is not from the eyes of the Palestinians whose lands were usurped, but for the first time, we talked to the occupiers, whom we call settlers, who did this. They are the ones who speak in this documentary.”
Çakmak pointed out that Israeli activists were also included in the documentary and said, “In this documentary, we see how Palestine is being occupied day by day. In order to accomplish such a task, a serious network and preliminary preparation were required. As TRT World, we have been pursuing this task for a long time. We managed to do this by finding the right contacts and gaining the trust of the people there.”
Zionist occupation through the eyes of witnesses and perpetrators
The documentary, which shows how Palestinian lands were occupied step by step, also included images taken from inside the police stations where the radical group called “Hilltop Youth”, which even the Israeli media has occasionally criticized, was trained.
The documentary tells the story of the brutality committed by the Jewish occupiers against Palestinians in the West Bank, which is considered illegal by the United Nations (UN) and most of the international community, through the eyes of both the witnesses and the perpetrators, with striking images.
The documentary reveals Zionist Israel’s strategies for displacing Palestinians through interviews with Israeli activists, former Israeli soldiers, radical occupation leaders and Israeli parliament members, and reveals how Palestinians’ lands are stolen and their homes are demolished.
Key interviews in the documentary include the leader of the occupation, Daniella Weiss; former Hilltop Youth MP Zvi Sukkot; former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert; activist lawyer Michael Sfard; Peace-Now movement leader Haget Ofran; and former Israeli army sniper Nadav Weiman.
By the way, the documentary “Holy Occupation” is also in the competition section of the festival.
Festival focuses on Palestine
The AJB DOC, which will continue until September 17, covers the suffering that the Palestinian people have suffered this year due to Israeli attacks.
The festival includes 24 documentaries on Israel’s violence against Palestinians, as well as those on the world economy and political turmoil.
The jury members of the festival were Deborah London-Harrington, Namik Kabil, Mila Turajlic, Francesco Montagner and Myriam Francois.
In the competition section of AJB DOC, 3 awards will be given: “AJB Main Award”, “AJB Program Award” and “Audience Award”.
The festival will also feature an Industry Days program and panels will be held.
