Goddamned communist. Internal enemy. Privileged Tel Aviv Ashkenazi. It seems Dov Khenin has been called almost everything during his 13-year tenure as Member of Knesset for the Jewish-Arab party ‘Hadash.’ For years, director Barak Heymann has been following this leading legislator, creating a film that examines the open wounds of contemporary Israeli society: from the forced removal of the residents of Givat Amal to turbulent meetings of the Knesset’s Finance Committee, and down to the violent events at Umm al-Hiran. Comrade Dov is a surprising, thought-provoking portrait of a unique politician, who refuses to give up even as reality deals him one cruel blow after another.
NIF Film Club discussed this film with NIF’s VP of Public Engagement Libby Lenkinski and director Barak Heymann. Former MK Dov Khenin was a special guest!
This week’s film and discussion were in partnership with the Other Israel Film Festival, as part of a special Israeli Leaders on Film series.
Barak Heymann was born in 1976 in Yedidia Village in the north of Israel. He has been directing and producing documentaries for TV and cinema for the past 15 years . Barak’s, and his brother Tomer’s, independent film company, Heymann Brothers Films, has produced over 25 documentaries. Their films have premiered in numerous festivals worldwide, such as Berlinale, IDFA and Hotdocs, where they have won prestigious awards. Barak teaches in several films schools in Israel and is currently engaged in a number of ongoing projects. Photo by Avner Shaked.