At each stage of release, the documentary is shortlisted for an Academy Award Baby files He faced enormous challenges—obstacles that might have derailed the filmmakers if not for the tenacity of director Alexis Bloom and producer Alex Gibney.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, whose reputation was damaged by the film, tried to prevent the film’s unofficial world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last September. An Israeli court rejected his attempt.
“It wasn’t surprising [Netanyahu] “He made a last ditch effort to stop the movie, although I don’t know logically how he thought that was possible,” Bloom said in a new interview with Deadline’s The Backstory podcast. “It is clear that the courts in Israel have no say in the courts in Canada. They have no jurisdiction over Canadians. So, on the first level, I thought, wow, that wasn’t a smart thing to do, because what’s the legal basis for that? On another level, on a psychological level, I didn’t find it surprising at all because Netanyahu is nothing if not soft.
Baby files The film revolves around leaked interrogation videos of Netanyahu, his wife and eldest son being questioned by police examining corruption allegations against the prime minister dating back nearly 10 years. He was indicted in 2019 for allegedly providing favors to wealthy businessmen in exchange for expensive gifts including jewelry, luxury clothing, and fine wine.
“The claims are huge, substantive, and lengthy…and they all involve quid pro quo,” Bloom explains. “The first case we are dealing with [in the film] It is pink champagne, cigars and jewelry worth $250,000 provided by Arnon Milchan, a Hollywood producer, and was given to Netanyahu, allegedly in exchange for certain favors. I should say “allegedly,” because the trial is ongoing, but this is the first accusation… and the last [allegation] What we’re dealing with in the film is a little different. The amount of money is higher. It’s $400-450 million in benefits to a media mogul named Shaul Elovitch. Now, Shaul owns everything from Nokia cell phones to wireless cable Internet in Israel, but also a news website called Walla, which has proven very popular in Israel.
Bloom continues: “The allegation is that Netanyahu and his family took over this news site and repurposed it for their own gain, demanding positive stories, better pictures, changing headlines, all that kind of stuff… In return, Shaul Elovitch, got these benefits of regulation.” He was doing a major merger at the time.
Perhaps most damning, the film features interviews with a number of observers who assert that Netanyahu extended the war in Gaza for more than a year and invaded Lebanon to thwart a prosecution that threatened his political career. Despite the film’s relevance to the war involving America’s closest ally in the Middle East – a war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives – no major US distributor or broadcast company will touch on it. Baby files. (It’s available on Jolt, a new service that has essentially created a home for documentaries without major distribution.)
Referring to negotiations with potential distributors, Bloom says: “We’ve just been told it’s too controversial. Or one of the broadcasters said, ‘Listen, we can’t make a movie about a sitting prime minister.’ And I feel like that’s wrong. And I feel like that’s Crazy and I feel like if we leave these discussions in other forums, on social media, in these bite-sized chunks, no one will understand the issues in any depth.
Today’s news is that negotiators for Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire agreement and the release of Israeli hostages Baby files All in due time. Crucially, the imminent return to power of Donald Trump – who enjoys a comfortable relationship with Netanyahu – will have enormous implications for the war going forward, and the fate of the remaining hostages. Bloom says it is necessary to pay close attention to Netanyahu’s trial because of its impact on the geopolitics of a volatile part of the world.
“It’s important for Americans to invest in the region at all, because it’s not just Israel, it’s Israel and Gaza, and especially right now, Lebanon and Syria and Israel have this tremendous influence on the region. And that’s important for everyone here.” [in the U.S.]”I think this is also important for the diaspora Jews who live here. I feel like a lot of people don’t want to criticize Israel because they feel it’s anti-Semitic,” says Bloom. “This movie is not anti-Israel. All of Netanyahu’s critics are Israeli. So, it’s not an anti-Semitic movie.” For the Semites, it is a film that shows you that there is huge and strong opposition within Israel against Netanyahu and I feel that it should give us all permission and courage to talk about Netanyahu as we would any other politician.”
Watch the full conversation in the video above.
