Advocate

Meet Lea Tsemel, a human rights lawyer who specializes in defending Palestinians in Israeli courts. Because she is also an activist of the left, she has been harassed and spat on, threated on her life, and called ‘extremist’, ‘traitor’, and ‘the devil’s advocate’ – the latter seemingly without irony. This documentary traces her relentless work, in particular a case in which she defends a 13-year-old Palestinian boy from Jerusalem, who, after being accused of stabbing a man, is held illegally in custody and put under extreme pressure from police, media, and the public. Through flashbacks we also learn about Tsemel’s young years and career in an Israeli society where public debate has become extremely polarized, but where the rights of Palestinians as an occupied people is slowly recognized – at least on paper. Advocate is a fly-on-the-wall-account of a fearless woman who has taken on the thankless task of being a watchdog. It is well-paced and empathetic, and appalling in its depiction of injustice and repression.

Rachel Lea Jones (b. 1970) is an American-Israeli documentary filmmaker. Philippe Bellaïche (b. 1967) is an award-winning French cinematographer who has worked on many films in Israel. Advocate is their first film together. It premiered at the 2019 Sundance film festival and has been screened on many festivals all over the world.