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‘Holding Liat’ Review: A Hostage Documentary Confronts the Limits of Empathy
Brandon Kramer captures his relative’s attempt to secure the release of his daughter from the Gaza Strip in 'Holding Liat'
The contradiction between acknowledgment and difficult acceptance lies at the heart of Brandon Kramer ’s documentary — about his elderly relative Yehuda Beinin dealing with his daughter Liat’s Oct. 7 abduction — which establishes numerous political parameters through observation, in an effort to conjure sentiment. Among them, his brother Joel, a professor of Middle Eastern history who left Israel long ago, speaks at a conference in support of Gaza, where numerous members sport both Jewish yarmulkes and Palestinian keffiyeh. Although Joel doesn’t feature for more than a few scenes, his presence sets a vital framework for “Holding Liat,” via his recognition that the Kibbutz on which he lived (the kind from which many Israelis were abducted) was built on stolen land.
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