Film Review - Hamaabada - A rare peek in to the Israeli defence industry. Screening today at 12:00
- Catherine
- Apr 25, 2013
- 3 min read
Hamaabada will be shown today Thursday 25th of April at 12.00 at the cinema Capitol 2.Film reviewed by Suzy Nelson-Pollard
For film lovers or international relations enthusiasts that are looking for an interesting documentary that combines hard-hitting facts, exclusive interviews and a unique perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Hamaabada at 12:00 today should not be missed at the Visions du Réel festival.
The premise of Yotam Feldman’s film is that in the past few years, the Israeli arms industry has developed to become such a corner stone for the national economy, that Israël has a national interest to maintain itself in a perpetual state of war. According to Feldman, in the past, war and normal life were two mutually exclusive states, where one had to stop for the other to start, whereas now, advanced technology and strategy permits the Israelis to minimise (Israeli) civilian deaths, and each wave of conflict provides the opportunity for the arms industry to test out their new equipment before putting it on the global market.
The film follows and interviews several heads of industry and military strategists, as well as documents arms trading fairs and conferences. Businessman Amos Golan, inventor of the weapon "CornerShot", has no qualms about the object of his trade “Am I an arms dealer, a defence exporter, or simply a creator?”. The filmmaker interviews an eccentric military strategist (or “military philosopher” as he likes to call himself), who specialises in developing tactics for urban warfare, and applying military force in to civil areas. “Don’t attack with geometry, hide the formation and then see who gets confused! It ends up with fantastic confrontations!”
As Israël becomes a leading arms manufacturer, with exports doubling every three years, armies from around the world have begun to also look to the country for training and experience. Scenes of soldiers in national uniforms training side by side on Israeli territory can only make the viewer wonder if these tactics learnt will be used against each other on the battlefield on a different part of the globe. The Minister of Trade interviewed on camera at an industry fair explained that the demand for Israeli arms is so high because it is the best technology in the world, but also because it has been tested. A university lecturer is interviewed and he reluctantly reveals that mathematical methods are used for military strategy, such as a formula for collapse, where “q” is the “number of people neutralised” and “Q” is “system collapse”. The documentary follows Leo Gleser, the head of a defence consultancy company, on a business trip to Brazil, where the Brazilian Special Forces are one of his biggest clients for police vehicles, arms and training for their combat against narco traffic in the favelas. “I don’t create the shit,” he says, “I try to turn the shit into an odourless package”.
One of the key strategists of Operation Cast Lead comments, “certain countries accuse of us killing civilians, but they send their officers to train here. They want to know the trick of turning blood into money”. Finally the film ends with the statistic of 7 billion dollars in weapons sales in 2012 from Israël, and Ehud Barak publicly declaring that 150’000 Israeli households depend on the industry, followed by a brilliant scene of government officials and industry heads watching a live performance of the song “Imagine” at a convention.
Whether the filmmaker’s hypothesis that the Israeli economic miracle is because of the war, and not despite it, is right or wrong, Yotam Feldman makes a strong case with extraordinary interviews and insights. It is a fast paced, thought provoking film that gives a rare peek into a secretive and highly influential industry, and asks important questions about the relationship between modern warfare, military strategy and economics. It will be very interesting to see the reaction towards this film at its premier next week in Israël.