New York Jewish Film Festival Spotlight: Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story

The 21st Annual New York Jewish Film Festival, taking place January 11th-26th, is presented by the Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Movies with Abe has the pleasure of offering a look at a number of the films being shown.

Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story
Directed by Jonathan Gruber & Ari Daniel Pinchot
Screening January 12th at 8:15pm and January 23rd at 6pm

This biography of the Israeli commander killed in the heroic rescue of Israeli hostages in Entebbe, Uganda is likely the most buzzed-about film being shown at the festival this year. It serves as a comprehensive history of Yoni’s youth and short adult life, interspersed with a timeline of the mission that took his life. In addition to paying tribute to a brave man who died so young, this film is particularly interesting in the present moment for the intimacy it provides with Yoni’s younger brother, Benjamin, who is currently the Prime Minister of Israel. Such a portal into the heart and soul of a sitting public official in a high position of leadership, especially that of the leader of Israel, is extremely rare and affecting. The film as a whole has its slower moments, but ultimately it serves as a fine love letter to a man who barely got to realize his potential as a great and inspiring leader.