In early 2023, a government plan to weaken the judicial system brought hundreds of thousands into the streets. Citizens who had never sought public roles became the organizers and leaders of an unprecedented protest movement. After October 7, the infrastructure built to oppose the government became an emergency network that filled the void the government left behind. The same volunteers who had organized demonstrations began locating missing people and distributing food, medicine and essential aid. Filmed from within the movement itself, “Awakening” documents the transformation of civic protest into civic responsibility, and asks what democracy demands of its citizens when the institutions meant to protect them fail to rise to the task.
Filmmakers’ Statement
We began filming in early 2023, as Israelis who had never thought of themselves as activists took to the streets and discovered that democracy cannot be taken for granted. After October 7, we watched the movement’s infrastructure change almost overnight. Networks built for protest became networks for emergency response, and the questions at the heart of the film grew harder. This is a film made from within one part of a divided society. We did not try to balance it from the outside. We tried to film the people we were with honestly: without flattery, without despair, and without turning them into symbols.
A film by Yuval Leon · Yoav Leshem · Noam Pinchas
Written and Directed by Noam Pinchas
Producers: Yuval Leon, Yoav Leshem, Arik Tal
Featuring: Eyal Naveh, Yossi Kucik, Moran Zer Katzenstein, Nava Rozolio, Omer Ben Elhanan, Karine Nahon, Ron Scherf, Ran Harnevo, Shikma Bressler
Narrated by Miki Haimovich