Greenwich Entertainment has acquired US and Canadian rights to a documentary about Israeli society and politics that will open in select theaters in the US starting Friday followed by a digital release in November, The Algemeiner has learned.
From Venezuelan filmmaker Jonathan Jakubowicz (“Resistance,” “Hands of Stone”), “Soul of a Nation” offers an unfiltered look at the recent internal divisions in Israeli society and politics, and the fight for democracy before and after the deadly Hamas-led terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The film examines “how divisive rhetoric, extreme positions, and the abandonment of compromise pulls societies apart and undermines democracy,” according to a description provided by Greenwich Entertainment. The documentary includes interviews with Nobel laureates, former prime ministers, Muslim leaders, peace activists, and other leading figures who address and challenge the misconceptions and global stereotypes about one of the world’s most scrutinized countries.
“For the past two years, Israel has been impossible to ignore. Yet amid the noise, one crucial element was missing: nuance,” said Jakubowicz. “Every side pushed its agenda so forcefully that it became extraordinarily difficult to grasp the horrific events unfolding before our eyes. But we didn’t just watch from the sidelines. In the months leading up to Oct. 7, [2023], we were on the ground in Israel, documenting a nation on the edge of crisis. As someone who grew up in Venezuela, I know what polarization can do to a democracy.”
“What we uncovered was not just division, but a nation fatally exposed to the horrors that soon followed,” the director added, referring to the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. “This film isn’t only about Israel. It is about the dangers of polarization — the single greatest threat facing the Western world. Too many are sleepwalking into intolerance, manipulated by outrage machines designed to divide us. The lessons Israel laid bare in 2023 are urgent, and essential if we want any hope moving forward.”
Greenwich co-president Edward Arentz said Jakubowicz’s film “explores Israeli society and politics in all its dizzying complexity while offering a sobering warning about the fragility of democratic institutions.”
Earlier this year, “Soul of a Nation” was the opening night film at the Miami Jewish Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award. The festival applauded the film for drawing “parallels to the rising polarization in democracies worldwide” and providing “a timely, universal, and hopeful call to action, reminding us that even in moments of deep division, peace and unity are not beyond reach.”
