Yoav Shamir considers himself a journalist as well as a filmmaker. Par for the course in his native Israel, but he seems to add a title when he and his films enter the U.S.: provocateur.
His latest documentary, “Defa-mation,” examines anti-Semitism not through the eyes of Jew-haters but, unexpectedly, through the actions of selected Jews. Most memorably, Shamir spends a chunk of time with Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, and accompanies a planeload of Israeli teenagers to Auschwitz.
Shamir, whose previous documentaries include “Checkpoint,” “5 Days” and “Flipping Out,” was taken aback by some of the audience reaction during the Q&A after “Defamation” screened in the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival in July. Several people took him to task for not taking anti-Semitism as seriously as do Jews in the diaspora.
Not the kind to play defense, Shamir described his response a few days later in an interview.
“I asked a simple question that I think most people don’t ask themselves. ‘Why is it so important for you to be reassured every time that you are being hated? What kind of a role does this play in your life? And why do you need to define yourself always on the negative side?’ ” he said.
Shamir quoted the Israeli teen who says in the film, “What makes us special is the fact that nobody can stand us.” With a mix of disbelief and disgust, the filmmaker declares, “That’s what makes us special? Come on.”
“Defamation” opens Nov. 20 at the Roxie Theatre in San Francisco.
Foxman granted Shamir extraordinary access, and the ADL’s national director acquits himself well on camera. The same can’t be said of some ADL supporters who unwisely confided in the filmmaker. Perhaps that’s why Foxman didn’t like “Defamation” and the ADL issued a press release critical of the film.
“I’m sure that what Foxman is doing and the ADL members are doing, they are 100 percent positive that they are contributing to the safety of Israel,” Shamir said.
He then went on to relate a scene he witnessed (but didn’t film) on an ADL mission to Auschwitz. Foxman asked attendees to name five non-Jews who would hide them if something terrible were to happen. When they can’t think of five, he dropped it to three, and then one.
“They are Americans living very comfortable lives,” Shamir said, “but underneath there are all these levels of insecurity, which I found amazing, to think that they question these issues constantly.”
Part of Shamir’s surprise, as he states in “Defamation,” stems from the fact that anti-Semitism is a foreign concept in Israel. A self-described secular atheist in his late 30s who lives in liberal Tel Aviv, Shamir doesn’t define his identity in terms of the Torah or the Holocaust.
“I went to university with friends who were Arab Israelis, Muslims and Christians, and to be honest, I had much more in common with them than I would have with an American Jew,” he said. “We eat the same foods, we suffer from the same terrible weather in summer, we enjoy the beautiful winter and we listen to similar music, and all the things that make us what we are.”
“Defamation” suggests that the dramatic increase in state-sponsored tours of the camps contributes to an unhealthy mindset for Israeli teens, especially as they look ahead to the military and serving in the territories. In conversation, Shamir doesn’t evince concern for the external threat of another Holocaust. But, provocatively, he sees a place where he thinks Jews are our own worst enemy.
“For me, humor is a big ingredient of Jewish life,” Shamir asserted. “Always has been and hopefully always will be. And in that sense, the ADL and Abe Foxman are very anti-Jewish because they have no sense of humor. In a way, I think they are undermining a very important part of Jewish identity. You cannot live in this world without a sense of humor and self-humor.”
“Defamation” opens Nov. 20 at the Roxie Theatre in San Francisco.