Nominated for Best Director and Best Feature at the IDA Awards and a Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, Film Movement Brings the Acclaimed Feature-Length Doc to Theaters in
New York and Los Angeles
OPENING ON JANUARY 3, 2020
NEW YORK | QUAD CINEMA
LOS ANGELES | LAEMMLE ROYAL
PLUS ADDT’L MARKETS
“Rachel Leah Jones and Philippe Bellaiche’s riveting new documentary pays tribute to the tenacity and selflessness of Jewish Israeli lawyer Lea Tsemel, a bitterly divisive figure in her home country on account of her unwavering dedication to Palestinian rights, and her willingness to defend anyone who uses violence to resist the Israeli occupation. [It is] a deeply bittersweet portrait of a magnetic individual.”
— Paul O’Callaghan, Sight & Sound
“One of a recent trend of films that focus on female advocacy in adverse circumstances, including The Judge, RBG and So Help Me God, whatever you think of her personal politics, by the end of the film you’re likely to feel the world needs more like Tsemel, while also realising what a big ask that is.”
— Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film
“This documentary portrait of Israeli human rights lawyer Lea Tsemel
gets absorbingly up close and personal. Compelling.”
— Keith Uhlich, The Hollywood Reporter
SYNOPSIS
A political firebrand in her home country, Israeli defense attorney Lea Tsemel is known by opponents as “the devil’s advocate”, for her decades-long defense of Palestinians who have been accused of resisting the occupation, both violently and non-violently. The thought-provoking, heart-wrenching, ADVOCATE, from filmmakers Rachel Leah Jones and Phillipe Bellaïche, both captures Tsemel in cinema verité fashion fighting on behalf of her clients in Israel’s challenging two-tier justice system and delves into Tsemel’s history revisiting her landmark cases.
From feminists and fundamentalists to non-violent demonstrators to armed militants, Lea Tsemel defends Palestinians. As a Jewish-Israeli lawyer who has represented political prisoners for nearly 50 years, Tsemel, in her tireless quest for justice, pushes the praxis of a human rights defender to its limits. Called “a lively exercise in documentary advocacy” by POV Magazine, in ADVOCATE, Jones and Bellaïche juxtapose one of Tsemel’s current cases, the defense of a minor accused of attempted murder, with several of her past cases, including one that was as much personal as it was political wherein she defended her activist husband from an accusation of “treason”. Animated sequences conceal defendants’ identities as Tsemel frankly addresses their best possible chances for acquittal, while interviews with Tsemel’s adult children reveal her unique ability to see the humanity of those accused. Frequently subjected to harsh criticism in the Hebrew press and in the public view, Tsemel remains optimistically steadfast in her belief that justice can be served.
An original, provocative film that both exposes the human fallout of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and provides hope for a just resolution, ADVOCATE was nominated for a Grand Jury Award at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. It has also captured accolades and awards at numerous other international film festivals, including “Best Israeli Film” at the DocAviv Film Festival, the Jury Prize at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, the Golden Horn at the Krakow Film Festival and the FIPRESCI Prize and Golden Alexander at the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival.
ADVOCATE (2019)
Directed by Rachel Leah Jones, Philippe Bellaiche
Produced by Philippe Bellaiche and Rachel Leah Jones, Home Made Docs, Paul Cadieux of FilmOption International, and joëlle Joelle Bertossa,
Close Up Films
Co-Produced by Hot 8, CBC/Radio Canada, RTS, SWR, NDR,
EO/IKONdocs, BBC/Storyville
Produced in Collaboration with Blue Ice Docs
With the support/participation of DR, YLE, SVT, VGTV,
Supported by Bertha Foundation, OFC, CineForum, Makor Foundation, Sundance Documentary Fund
With the help of CoPro, Hotdocs Forum, IDFA Forum, IFP
RT: 108 minutes
Genre: Documentary
Languages: Hebrew, Arabic, English
