The Human Factor

The Human Factor

The Israeli documentary filmmaker behind the acclaimed The Gatekeepers here focuses on a moment in history that could have changed the Middle East.

In 1993, delegates from the Israeli and Palestinian governments, mediated by delegates from the US, met to hammer out what would become known as the Oslo Accords – an attempt to bring peace to the conflict between the two Middle Eastern countries. Assassinations, a shift to more extreme positions and increasing tensions resulting in violence ultimately undid them, but for a moment they showed, no matter how imperfectly, that a solution to the situation was possible, even achievable.

Dror Moreh looks back on these talks. He draws primarily from the US delegates in an attempt to map out how the discussions unfolded and they impact they would likely have had, had the centrist Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin not been assassinated and the more hardline Benjamin Netanyahu taken his place. As in his previous film, Moreh skilfully interweaves the talking heads with archive footage to encompass what took place and the weight of its importance.

Directed by
Starring
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Runtime 108 Minutes
Release date 2021
Certificate
  • Certification: 15