The documentary HOLDING LIAT tells the story of a kibbutz dwelling couple awaiting the fate of their daughter Liat Beinin Atzili, who with her husband Aviv Atzili had been kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023. The triumph of this film is how, under these grim circumstances it manages to hold in emotional and dramatic proportion all sides of the latest stage of the Middle East conflict. 

The very powerful film — eligible for an Oscar, now playing at New York’s Film Forum and starting Friday in Los Angeles — should be seen by everyone because it humanizes a horrific time that resonates even more today. 

A mother of 3 and an educator Liat remained a captive for 54 days. No spoiler here. She is now also a widow. While perhaps you might want to know what it was like, how was she treated, was she fed adequately, could she go to the bathroom in privacy, did they abuse her, Liat, who I had the opportunity to meet at a luncheon at Serafina to talk about the doc, does not want to say. Rather, her awareness that others were not so lucky is at the forefront of her thoughts, as well as the understanding that she did not have to be held for 54 days, nor did others have to remain for 200 such horrific days; she was simply not the priority of her government.

Did that mean that her captors were humane? Her “luck” is bittersweet. Liat let on that she had the thought: she was not far from her family—her extraordinary father Yehuda and mother Chaya—if only she could write them and the children an email to say she was all right. They could maybe drop her off at a place in Gaza. She could find her way home. These daydreams occupied her. They were Hamas, after all, much younger than she was; they had made their choices.

Filmmaker Brandon Kramer had met this family, when he and his brother Lance, a producer on the film, had gone to Israel on Birthright. When the October massacre occurred, he got in touch to find out how these distant relatives were, not even thinking they would respond. They met up with Yehuda when he came to Washington as part of a delegation to help free the hostages. 

The Kramers began the film just hoping to document a family story, but found so much more as the speakers included Yehuda’s brother, Joel, a professor who lives in Portland, Oregon, whose views differ radically from his brother’s. Liat’s younger sister Tal, who moved to Portland, adds her voice. The family becomes a microcosm of differing opinions on Israeli/ Palestinian politics. Brandon Kramer allows the close-ups on Yehuda’s rolling eyes to tell a story itself, recognizing how much his family members are pawns in an emotional drama that sacrificed Israelis and Palestinians alike. And Liat, despite the recognition that the priorities of those in power do not align with hers, like many hopeful Israelis, works to find a path to peace.