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'Collapse (Face à Gaza)' Revisits Nir Oz's Ruins Beside Gaza's War

French reviews cast the film as a stark political reckoning.

Overview

  • The documentary by Israeli director Anat Even returns to her former kibbutz, Nir Oz, to record the wreckage left by the October 7 attack and the nearby bombardment of Gaza.
  • Critics describe gutted houses with blood-marked doors, army street-fighting drills inside the kibbutz, giant D9 bulldozers bearing vengeful slogans, and a rally of settlers calling to retake Gaza.
  • Even narrates her grief and fear of revenge, while the film also shows the anger of hostage families and a visit by Benjamin Netanyahu to Nir Oz that drew boos.
  • The film weaves in off-screen letters read by actor Arieh Worthalter and a voiced exchange with Israeli dramaturge Ariel Cypel, who delivers a sharp critique after leaving Israel.
  • French outlets present the work as an indictment of what it calls Israel's 'fascisation' and as testimony from a place where life in Israel and destruction in Gaza stand within sight of each other.