“Initially we said, ‘Our relatives have been thrust into the epicenter of the biggest geopolitical crisis in the world right now,’ said Brandon Kramer, director of the powerful, moving documentary Holding Liat, which just had its world premiere at the 75th Berlinale, the Berlin International Film Festival.
“We weren’t saying that this should be a feature film, we just felt a historical obligation to document some of those early moments with the family,” Kramer said. Holding Liat was one of two documentaries about the hostages at the Berlinale; the other was Letter to David, about hostage David Cunio, still captive in Gaza, whose wife and two daughters were released during the first deal in November 2023.
The movie, which was produced by director Darren Aronofsky, among others, is a look at how the family of one hostage, Liat Beinin Atzili, coped when she was held by Hamas in Gaza. Atzili was abducted from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz and was released after 54 days. Her partner, Aviv Atzili, was killed defending the kibbutz on October 7, and his body was abducted into the Strip.
Kramer said that the American-born Beinin family are distant relatives, and that he and his brother, Lance Kramer, one of the film’s producers, had spent time with them in Israel years before the war.
Hostage family's journey captured
“They were our first introduction to Israel,” he said. “A few days after October 7, we found out that Liat and Aviv had been taken, and we called [Liat’s father] Yehuda [Beinin] as a relative, just to say, ‘We’re thinking of you guys, if there’s anything we can do…’ And on that phone call, he told us he was going to fly to the US to advocate for Liat’s release, because she’s a dual [US-Israeli] citizen.”
Since the Kramers are based in Washington, DC, it was natural for them to begin documenting Yehuda’s trip there in October 2023.
“Obviously, I’m a relative of theirs, I care deeply about them, and the way that I thought I could contribute is by telling this story in as honest and intimate a way as possible,” he said.
“This is a kibbutznik family, and they came to Israel with a very specific, socialist ideology, as part of Hashomer Hatzair [“The Young Guard” secular Jewish youth group],” Kramer said. “Each member of this family processed the grief of this moment in their own way and had their views around the future of their country, the future of the region.
“I just felt that I had a window, within one family, navigating some of the hardest questions that we’re all facing – but for them, with Liat and Aviv in captivity, the stakes are unimaginable,” their relative said. “I feel there’s a lot to learn from what they went through.”
AFTER FILMING Beinin in Washington, the film crew went back to Israel with him, to paint a portrait of a family living through a nightmare they never imagined. Liat’s father was particularly prominent in the film, having done everything he could to help get his daughter released, including going far out of his comfort zone and meeting with American politicians and officials. The film details how he balances his left-of-center politics and distrust of the Israeli government with the need to reach out to every possible person who could help, both in Israel and abroad.
“I couldn’t stop because they couldn’t stop,” Kramer said.
The film chronicles the conflicts among family members about how to handle the crisis, and the pain of Liat and Aviv’s son, Neta, who survived the Nir Oz massacre alone in his safe room and agreed to tell his story again and again in the hope of freeing his mother.
Kramer described his elation at the warm response to the film at the Berlinale, where a Lebanese man spoke with great emotion about his wish for peace and unity, and even joined the filmmakers and the Beinin-Atzili family onstage, hugging them.
Yehuda Beinin, who attended the Berlinale along with his daughter Liat to present the film, also sat down for an interview, and emphasized his commitment to getting the rest of the hostages released. “That should be the number one priority for the Netanyahu government and the American administration,” he said.
Wearing a yellow ribbon pin to symbolize the plight of the hostages, he spoke about his family’s suffering during the time Liat was held. He never would have thought about going to Washington to plead with US lawmakers for the hostages’ release, he said, but when other American hostage families got organized, he joined them.
“We all thought that following the first trip to DC on October 22 [2023], we’re going to get this over with. Unfortunately, [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu had other ideas in mind,” Beinin said. “It became clear pretty early on that Netanyahu’s mindset was to figure out a way to leverage this tragedy to other unrelated political goals… to annex the West Bank, level Gaza, and keep himself out of jail.”
STAYING TRUE to his political beliefs helped him cope with the crisis, his wife, Chaya, suggests in the film.
While Yehuda is passionate about politics and history, and spoke animatedly about the Bar Kochba revolt and the Second Temple period, what comes out in the conversation with him is his great love for and devotion to his family, which propelled him into the spotlight when he felt that there was a chance that he could help her.
Growing up in Philadelphia, he said he faced antisemitism as a child and moved to Israel as soon as he could. He settled with Chaya in the Western Galilee on Kibbutz Shomrat, where he worked as a gardener, hoping to give his children a future free from discrimination and hate. He speaks proudly of Liat’s resilience and her message of tolerance even after everything she endured – and still seems slightly in shock at the chain of events that propelled him and his family onto the world stage.
“I thought we were going to present Liat with a home movie,” he said. “I give full credit to Brandon and Lance in developing the idea. I had no idea and certainly no inclination to create a work of art like this.”
He certainly didn’t anticipate that this journey would bring him to the Berlinale – and that his family’s story would be told all over the world.