How does the military honor a soldier shot down on the field of battle? By firing rifles into the sky. Mammas, don’t let your babies grow up to be soldiers. Zohara Antebi left her son's circumcision in mid-celebration after overhearing one of the women standing cradle side remark, "What a cute baby for the Army." Miri Sela’s baby was born in a time of peace, but it didn’t last long. A pregnant Rachel Ben-Dor would sit and watch the tracer bullets flying outside her window. And the irony wasn’t lost on Ronit Nahmias when she observed the impossibility of raising a child of peace while living in a country that’s forever engaged in a war that neither side can win. An article written by Eran Shahar and an accompanying cartoon of a mother pushing a baby carriage with tank treads instead of wheels was what it eventually took to bring the quarter together. Shahar had the audacity to ask the question that most people dare not think: what kind of a mother would encourage their son to play Russian Roulette for the satisfaction of the Israeli army? Their work was initially greeted with cries of, “Get back in the kitchen where you belong!” but these four women, firmly determined to get their children out of Lebanon, took it upon themselves to expose the lie that Israel's presence in Lebanon was there to protect their northern border. (Watch what happens when one of the sons puts his mother's philosophy to the test by refusing to engage in a conflict.) And for all the times Bohemian Rhapsody was included in a soundtrack to act as a period reminder, few have reverberated more than the “music video” that closes the picture. Mke this as a festival must-see. (2020) — Scott Marks
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