Tantura

Madison’s Antiwar Film Series moves from the Central Library to the Bartell for the 2022 documentary Tantura, nominated for best World Cinema-Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival that year. The film is about the 1948 massacre of Palestinian civilians as Israelis carried out their war of independence, as well as the vindicating work of Israeli graduate student Teddy Katz, who documented the history of the massacre and was first celebrated, then accused of being a traitor. The context of today’s conflicts in the region are thought-provoking; there will be a moderated discussion following the film.

media release: Madison’s Antiwar Film Series is partnering with The Bartell Theater for a free big screen showing of  Tantura, a 2022 documentary about the history of a village in Israel Palestine. Watch the trailer here. The Bartell is a half-block off the Capitol Square. There will be a moderated discussion following the film, with Lily Zyndorf Shell, a member of Students for Justice in Palestine - UW-Madison, Samir El-Omari of Playgrounds for Palestine, and Esty Dinur of Jewish Voice for Peace.

Weds, January 29, 7:30 pm, The Bartell Theater, 113 E Mifflin St

About the film: Hundreds of Palestinian villages were depopulated in 1948. To Israelis, it was the War of Independence, to Palestinians it was 'Al Nakba' - the Catastrophe. When Israeli graduate student Teddy Katz meticulously documented this massacre of Palestinian civilians surrounding Israel's independence, he was initially celebrated for his groundbreaking work. But soon, he was stripped of his degrees and was publicly shamed as a fraudulent traitor. Decades later, incendiary new evidence emerges to corroborate Teddy's initial findings, not just vindicating him, but raising profound questions about how Israelis — and we all — deal with the darker chapters of history.

Director Alon Schwarz revisits former Israeli soldiers as well as Palestinian residents in an effort to re-examine what happened in Tantura, the location of an alleged, Israeli-perpetrated massacre, and find out why 'Al Nakba' is still a taboo in Israeli society.

The Antiwar Film Series is presented monthly by Veterans for Peace - Madison and Madison for a World BEYOND War.