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Israeli theater world struggles with self-censorship

Israeli theater leaders held an emergency conference to discuss self-censorship after Culture Minister Miri Regev intimidated Israeli film festivals and venues out of screening the award-winning film "Advocate."
Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Gali Tibbon/Pool - S1BEUFYNASAA
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Even in the days of a caretaker transitional government, between elections, culture minister and former chief army censor Miri Regev refuses to lay down her censor stamp. The latest headliner is the documentary film “Advocate,” which tells the unique story of Jewish-Israeli attorney Lea Tsemel dubbed “the attorney of the terrorists.” The movie won first prize in May at the Docaviv International Documentary Film Festival in Tel Aviv, and as always, without even seeing it, Regev demanded that the national lottery that supported the film “dissociate itself from the prize and the festival leaders’ decision to award it to the film.” The national lottery management gave in and announced June 27 that it would examine legal options for rescinding its grant to the documentary and pull all future funding for the festival prize. Earlier in June, the directors of the Cinema South Festival decided to remove the film from its program, ignoring the recommendations of the festival's lecturers.

On June 21, a few dozen theater professionals convened at the Tzavta Theater in Tel Aviv for an “emergency conference” to discuss self-censorship in the theater. The message of the gathering, held under the auspices of the New Israel Fund and headlined “Censoring Ourselves to Death,” was clear: After four years as Israel’s culture czar, Regev has won.

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