In 2000, the Tsahal (Israeli Defense Forces) started to withdraw from the Israeli Security Zone in southern Lebanon, effectively ending the First Lebanon War. The 12th-century Crusader stronghold Beaufort (where the war’s first battle was fought) served as an army outpost during the 18 years that Israel occupied this part of Lebanon. The soldiers stationed there are preparing for the upcoming withdrawal – while the war somehow continues. A sometimes quasi-abstract combat film of the more meditative kind that was subject to a fascinating kind of criticism back home: a number of veterans as well as families of fallen soldiers complained that some of the actors didn’t do their military service and therefore shouldn’t have been cast. First Lebanon War veteran Cedar said: ‘Israel may be the only place where actors are expected to have actual combat experience when playing soldiers in a movie’. A month after the principal filming was completed, the Second Lebanon War started.
