The Bibi Files
(USA, 113 min.)
Dir. Alexis Bloom
Programme: TIFF Docs (Work in progress)
The most highly anticipated doc at TIFF has maintained its anticipatory status despite having finally been screened on Monday evening. Alexis Bloom’s The Bibi Files, an exposé of Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s corrupt practices as Prime Minister of Israel, is still a work-in-progress and, as she admitted on stage after the screening, could be revised in significant ways in the coming months before its official release.
There’s no doubt that the screening was truly emotional and, it was surely the most newsworthy event at this year’s festival. The mere fact that Netanyahu had tried to quash the showing of the documentary through an unsuccessful intervention in the Israeli courts that very day made international headlines. Ironically, Bibi might have turned into the best press agent for Bloom and producer Alex Gibney’s film.
What hasn’t changed, despite Netanyahu’s shenanigans, is the controversial nature of the project. The Bibi Files features a massive amount of leaked footage from a criminal investigation conducted between 2016 and 2018 into Netanyahu’s apparent acceptance—and, indeed, encouragement—of gifts from wealthy supporters, including most prominently, the Oscar winning producer Arnon Milchan, among whose notable credits are The Revenant, Birdman, L.A. Confidential and 12 Years a Slave. Milchan is shown in never-seen-before material as he admits that the Netanyahus—wife Sara as well as Bibi—have received cigars and champagne from him. At first, this appears relatively innocuous but as the investigation footage reveals, Milchan has given cases of very expensive champagne and cigars to the Netanyahu family and, most egregiously, gifted Sara with very pricy jewelry from Tiffany’s.
The Bibi Files is laced with revelations of Netanyahu’s self-aggrandizing activities, which generally involve helping media barons or other plutocrats who are more than happy to work with Israel’s Prime Minister and offer him benefits if he will help them. One of Netanyahu’s former minions, Nir Hefetz, used his close relationship to both Sara and Bibi to his advantage, brokering deals for clients to receive the patronage of the strongest politician in the country.
There’s quite a bit of newly leaked material showing Hefetz working with Bezeq, an Israeli internet giant, to offer positive coverage of Bibi on Walla, which is their most successful news provider. Bloom’s film shows that Shaul Elovitch, the leading shareholder in Bezeq, is also implicated in Netanyahu’s corruption charges as he and his companies have benefitted financially from the Prime Minister’s “reluctance” to investigate any of their alleged fiscal improprieties.
In the second half of the film, The Bibi Files makes the case that Netanyahu is holding onto power because he fears that he might go to jail if his corruption charges went to court. There’s footage of the parents of hostages trying to curry favour with the Netanyahu family despite their own disagreements (in many cases) with Bibi’s policies. The horror of the situation in Gaza is depicted—with the clear suggestion that Netanyahu is not the appropriate person to resolve the conflict.
It’s unfair to review a work-in-progress. That is not the intent of this commentary. The problem I have with the “revelation” in Bloom and Gibney’s film—the leaked footage–is that Netanyahu is too skilled as a politician and a performer to reveal anything significant. Yes, there’s a mountain of previously unseen film material. And there are some interesting moments when Milchan and Hefetz speak in defense of themselves. It’s certainly fascinating to watch Sara Netanyahu melt down in front of the camera—clearly hysterical—and their eldest son Yair is almost comically arrogant talking about his father and himself. But there is a problem.
Bibi Netanyahu has been a politician for decades. He knows where the camera is when he’s being interviewed. Despite having a reputation for being a man with a phenomenal memory, Bibi is awfully good at saying “I don’t remember.” He offers endless variations on admitting that his wife may or may not have accepted gifts or behaved inappropriately. There are no revelations in The Bibi Files. Israel’s most terrifying politician remains true to himself.
Nevertheless, you should see The Bibi Files when it comes out. It’s always important see the true nature of your enemy, even if he has a poker face.
