- Welcome to POV.
I'm Pete Schwaba, host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut .
Tonight we bring you the remarkable story
of Israeli human rights lawyer Lea Tsemel
in the film Advocate.
Lea Tsemel has spent her life
representing political prisoners,
primarily Palestinians who resist Israeli occupation.
She believes that Palestinians that carry out
politically-motivated violence against her native country
are freedom fighters, not terrorists.
As you may imagine, she is not popular
with many in her native country.
She's been called a traitor, leftist, and devil's advocate,
which Tsemel considers a compliment.
Advocate premiered at Sundance in 2019
and during its festival run,
it took home the Best Israeli Film documentary
at the Docaviv film festival in Tel Aviv, Israel.
This decision was condemned by the Israeli Cultural Minister,
but director Rachel Lea Jones said in a recent interview
that audiences in Israel were laughing, crying,
hugging, and elated.
To receive that kind of a response
with such a controversial subject matter
in an historically tumultuous region
truly shows the power of film.
Sometimes filmmakers use animation
to provide a more stylistic look to their film.
Jones and co-director Phillipe Bellaiche do just that
in Advocate , but in this case,
the use of animation also proved to be practical,
as it concealed the identities of Tsemel's defendants.
Spending one's life in the Middle East
representing political prisoners seems like thankless work,
but the efforts of the tenacious and colorful Lea Tsemel
have now officially been documented.
Advocate starts now on PBS Wisconsin,
your home for independent film.