Dekel Berenson

Director’s Note

In many ways, Aliya is an autobiographical film. I left my home country of Israel at the age of 21, days after completing my mandatory three years of service in the Israeli Defense Forces. The reasons I left are complex, yet they primarily have to do with my disenchantment with many of the values and beliefs I was brought up with, both social and political. Inversely, Aliya, who discovered as a teenager that she was Jewish, immigrates to Israel with her family so she could join the military. In its heart, deeply personal, Aliya is a coming of age story, yet it is one that also encapsulates the narrative of an entire country, in which interpersonal relationships are a metaphor for violence between nations and people. A militarized country, one which is in a constant state of war, is inherently violent, not only towards its adversaries but towards its own people as well. Put simply, the violence one inflicts upon others always ends up being inflicted upon oneself. While taking place in Israel, Aliya is a universally important and timely film that touches on themes that concern all people, regardless of race, gender, or background. Moreover, it is a story that is personal to me, and a strong reflection of my values as they relate to nationalism, religion, hierarchies, authority, and power. These are themes that I’ve explored for almost two decades, since my days in Budapest studying towards a Master’s degree in International Relations. I hope that by turning these cerebral ideas into film, audiences all over the world will gain insight not only into the double-edged nature of violence in the Middle East as it manifests itself in the lives of Israelis, but in their personal lives as well, whoever they are, and wherever they may be