Advocate
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Synopsis
Lea Tsemel defends Palestinians: from feminists to fundamentalists, from non-violent demonstrators to armed militants. As a Jewish-Israeli lawyer who has represented political prisoners for five decades, Tsemel, in her tireless quest for justice, pushes the praxis of a human rights defender to its limits. As far as most Israelis are concerned, she defends the indefensible. As far as Palestinians are concerned, she's more than an attorney, she's an advocate. ADVOCATE follows Tsemel's caseload in real-time, including the high-profile trial of a 13-year-old boy - her youngest client to date - while also revisiting her landmark cases and reflecting on the political significance of her work and the personal price one pays for assuming the role of "devil's advocate." Tsemel spoke truth to power before the term became trendy and she'll continue to do so after fear makes it unfashionable. As such, she's a model we're hard-pressed to preserve in Israel/Palestine, and elsewhere.
Cast
- Hanan Ashrawi
- Tareq Barghout
- Josh Breiner
- Avigdor Feldman
- Israa Jaabis
Atom User Reviews
Metacritic
Jan 2, 2020
Provocative as the film is, it doesn’t fully reconcile Tsemel’s contradictions, if such a thing were even possible or desirable.
Ben Kenigsberg
The New York Times
Jan 2, 2020
The directorial choices, from the minimal use of music for dramatic embellishment to the innovative split-screen technique used to blur the identities of individuals in courthouse footage, are spot-on throughout.
Nick Rocco Scalia
Film Threat
Jan 2, 2020
At one point, Tsemel describes herself as a member of an occupying force and defines her mission in life as to somehow rectify the resultant power imbalance. The only way to get there, as the film's pointed final image suggests, is to keep on trudging.
Keith Uhlich
The Hollywood Reporter
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