Review: 'Holding Liat' follows a family waiting after the Oct. 7 kidnappings

Brandon Kramer’s documentary Holding Liat opens on the Israeli-American Yehuda Beinin receiving information that his daughter, Liat, is still alive after she and her husband, Aviv, were kidnapped from their kibbutz in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel. The film follows Yehuda and his family in the wrenching weeks that follow, airing differing viewpoints among Yehuda, his wife and his relatives.

Anxious to act, Yehuda joins an Israeli delegation to Washington meant to keep the crisis top of mind among U.S. politicians and organizations, and he argues against weaponizing the situation for warmongering aims, putting him at odds with the trip’s messaging and his companions. Yehuda’s daughter Tal, who lives in Portland, Ore., wants to help her sister by whatever publicity is necessary, while Liat and Aviv’s son Netta, who was present during the attacks, says, “They need to die.” Kramer’s vérité approach often uses close-ups on faces and underlines the bigger picture through critiques by Yehuda and, later, his brother Joel, a professor who discusses the history of kibbutzim and the seizure of Palestinian lands.

The filmmaker is distantly related to Yehuda’s family. For some viewers, Israel’s subsequent attacks on Gaza might overshadow the film’s focus on Yehuda’s family. By concluding with Liat’s own reflections on the region, Kramer quietly but forcefully recognizes that the conflict cannot continue as it has.

Key Topics

Culture, Holding Liat, Brandon Kramer, Yehuda Beinin, Hamas, Gaza