Yoav: The motivation for Defamation actually started with Checkpoint, when Checkpoint was released. I started out making Checkpoint approaching it more as a filmmaker than an activist or a leftie or anything like that. I was drawn to this human drama and conflict, these day-to-day encounters, the psychological insights into them. I’m saying this because I think it’s important to know that Checkpoint was not made by someone with very strong political convictions who wanted to send a message – that’s where I was coming from. I was studying film; it started when I was a film student, and I was fascinated with what was happening, and having been at these checkpoints myself, it was very interesting for me to come back after a while. It wasn’t set up as a political statement. I think, in a way, that’s what made this film as extraordinary as it was. There were Palestinians telling me that they’ve seen the film and have some empathy for the Israeli soldiers; many Israelis were affected by the way it portrayed the Palestinians. I think it touched many people because it was done from this human way of looking at things and not as a film an activist would make.
But then the responses, especially from Jews in the US, were very harsh. In Israel it received pretty positive coverage, and the film made a difference for many people. But then I started reading reviews about the film, and they were very, very hostile. To the extreme that there were journalists referring to me as the Israeli Mel Gibson, accusing me of being an anti-Semite, all of these things that were, for me, unbelievable. It was totally insane to hear these things. Here I am, an Israeli, born and raised, who has done his military service, and have no issues with the being an Israeli and a Jew, is being referred to as an anti-Semite. It kind of blew me away. Then I started thinking about the whole concept of anti-Semitism: What does it mean? Where is it being used? Then you see that it’s all around, it’s so present in the Israeli media, the Jewish media. And if I’m an anti-Semite, then what is anti-Semitism? Something about the use of the word brought up questions. And that was the starting point for Defamation.
As for the Anti-Defamation League – in a very similar way to Checkpoint, I came without knowing too much. Normally, when I work, I don’t know too much about the subject I’m starting to work with, because if you know too much in advance there’s a lack of authenticity, a lack of energy; it’s like proving a point. I like to share with people watching the film this sort of fresh look, this authenticity, these things which are unfolding in front of the camera and that are unfolding to me as well.
You know, it doesn’t take much to Google anti-Semitism; the ADL has always been the biggest organization fighting anti-Semitism. Then I approached them, telling them I want to see, I want to learn what they’re doing, how they are fighting anti-Semitism, and they said “Yes”; they didn’t, you know, run a very thorough background check – maybe they did, maybe they didn’t, I don’t know – they were very open with me about everything. And again I think I was very honest with them. I don’t think I was misleading them in any way. And it was kind of funny, because when the film came out the ADL spokesman (who isn’t working there anymore, obviously) told me that she thought it was a fair film. Foxman took it on a very different level, as sort of a personal offense. But I was fortunate to be able to have this access; that is always a good thing to have.
