EXCLUSIVE: Greenwich Entertainment has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to Soul of a Nation, “a searching and highly personal documentary” directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz that examines the increasing polarization of Israeli society and politics.
Greenwich will open the film on Friday, October 3 at New York City’s Quad Cinema. It will debut in Los Angeles on Friday, October 10 at the Laemmle Royal in West LA and Laemmle’s Town Center 5 in Encino. Soul of a Nation will be released on digital platforms on Tuesday, November 14.
The documentary acquisition announcement comes as the Israeli military launches a ground invasion of Gaza City, which has sent thousands of Palestinian civilians scrambling from the area. Israel’s cabinet approved the invasion plan last month, prompting condemnation by the UK, France, Germany, Turkey and other countries (U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio struck a different tone at a news conference in Israel on Monday, saying, “It’s [Israel’s] war; they’re going to get to decide how they want to proceed.”).
The Israeli people remain sharply divided over the conduct of the war in Gaza, which the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched in retaliation for the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack on Israel. Netanyahu told his people the invasion of Gaza City “was an attempt to decisively rout Hamas in one of its last strongholds,” the New York Times reported, “but many Israelis are skeptical.”
‘Soul of a Nation’
Greenwich Entertainment
The reality of the increasing tensions within Israel itself is the focus of Soul of a Nation.
The documentary “provides an unfiltered look at Israel’s most perilous chapter in recent history, a period defined by internal divisions and political extremism,” notes a description of the film. “Drawing on insights from Nobel laureates, former Prime Ministers, Muslim leaders, peace activists, and other prominent figures, the film deconstructs the common narratives and challenges global stereotypes—revealing a textured, nuanced portrait of one of the world’s most scrutinized nations.”
Jakubowicz’s previous credits include Resistance, Hands of Stone, and Secuestro Express. Soul of a Nation premiered at the Miami Jewish Film Festival in January, where it won the festival’s audience award.
“For the past two years, Israel has been impossible to ignore,” Jakubowicz said in a statement. “Yet amid the noise, one crucial element was missing: nuance. Every side pushed its agenda so forcefully that it became extraordinarily difficult to grasp the horrific events unfolding before our eyes. But we didn’t just watch from the sidelines. In the months leading up to October 7th, we were on the ground in Israel, documenting a nation on the edge of crisis. As someone who grew up in Venezuela, I know what polarization can do to a democracy. In Israel I saw similar fractures—hundreds of thousands in the streets, leaders warning of collapse. What we uncovered was not just division, but a nation fatally exposed to the horrors that soon followed.”
Jakubowicz continued, “This film isn’t only about Israel. It is about the dangers of polarization—the single greatest threat facing the Western world. Too many are sleepwalking into intolerance, manipulated by outrage machines designed to divide us. The lessons Israel laid bare in 2023 are urgent, and essential if we want any hope moving forward.”
Greenwich Entertainment
Greenwich co-president Edward Arentz commented, “Jonathan explores Israeli society and politics in all its dizzying complexity while offering a sobering warning about the fragility of democratic institutions.”
Claudine Jakubowicz, Dalit Merenfeld, and Santiago Garcia produced the documentary. It’s a production of Epicentral Films.
Watch the trailer below.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source deadline.com ’
