Holding Liat

One of the great ironies of the 10/7 Hamas atrocities was the fact that many of the murdered and abducted Israelis advocated liberal positions of peace and reconciliation with respect to Palestinians. Such was definitely the case for the Atzili family. Aviv and Liat were kidnapped and held captive in Gaza, leaving behind their grown children and elderly parents. Yet, Liat Atzili’s father Yehuda Beinin was no shrinking violet. He dutifully sat for media interviews to raise awareness for his daughter and son-in-law, but he also freely offered his opinions on Netanyahu, whether or not people wanted to hear them—and they usually didn’t. Beinin’s distant cousin (by marriage) Brandon Kramer documented the family during their long, painful crisis in Holding Liat, which opens Friday in theaters.

Beinin, his wife Chaya, and their daughter are American citizens, but they have lived in Israel for many years. They are also definitely leftwing, Netanyahu-despising Kibbutzniks, but that made no difference when Hamas abducted Liat and Aviv. Initially, their U.S. citizenship is presumed to be an advantage, but that starts to look questionable as her captivity drags on and on.

Likewise, Beinin’s strong personality clearly often cut both ways. Yet, his brother, a further-left professor emeritus of Middle Eastern history is even more pronounced in his sympathies for the Palestinian cause. Frankly, many families of hostages would be uncomfortable with either brother speaking on their behalf. However, Yehuda Beinin seems to understand this, at least to an extent.

Obviously, viewers immediately sympathize and identify with the Atzili and Beinin family. What they endure is horrible to even imagine. That said, Kramer missed the opportunity to probe Beinin (or his brother) on any of their forcefully expressed opinions—in a genuinely curious, nonconfrontational way. In fact, they might have had interesting answers for questions like “how do you work towards peace with people who’d rather continue killing” and “just who could be Israel’s partner for peace in Gaza?”

Indeed, Holding Liat is probably the most palatable 10/7-related documentary for left-of-center viewers, thus far. Yet, there is no escaping the brutality of Hamas’s campaign of terror. In some ways, it is a very useful film, because it reminds audiences that Israel is far from ideologically monolithic. In fact, it has a long, robust history of socially engaged progressivism.

Sadly, Holding Liat tells a piece of a wider story of great enormity. It is often emotionally devastating, but it is not a definitive documentary on the subject, especially since it concludes well before the final hostage releases of October 2025. Frankly, The Road Between Us is arguably much more representative of the 10/7 hostage families’ experiences and attitudes. Respectfully recommended for its oral-history-in-real-time and its distinctive vantage point, Holding Liat opens this Friday (1/9) at Film Forum.