Brief
Documentary ‘Father Father’ follows gay Israeli‑Palestinian couple’s surrogacy amid Oct. 7 backdrop
Director Jake Witzenfeld says the film aims to show love across conflict‑ridden differences.
By Felo News Desk · Published
Variety reports that the documentary “Father Father,” premiering at Festival do Rio, follows a Jewish Israeli man, Aviv, and his Palestinian‑Israeli husband, Khader, as they travel to Texas for a surrogate birth that takes place on the eve of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
What happened
The film tracks the couple’s journey from Tel Aviv to a Texas surrogacy clinic, where a surrogate delivers their son, Albi, on October 6, 2023 – the day before Hamas launched its Oct. 7 assault. The narrative interweaves personal moments with the broader political climate in Israel, including shifting government policies under Benjamin Netanyahu.
What the reports add
Variety notes that director Jake Witzenfeld, who previously made the 2015 documentary “Oriented,” began developing “Father Father” after Khader called him in spring 2021. Witzenfeld says the project initially explored whether a gay mixed‑religion couple could have a child inside Israel, but the return of Netanyahu’s right‑wing government gave the story a macro‑political dimension.
The article highlights a pivotal scene at a surrogacy agency where officials tell the couple that both parents must share the same religion, illustrating the tension between Israel’s liberal freedoms and its Jewish‑state identity.
What was said
Witzenfeld told Variety, “This film definitely wants to keep alive the dream of a possibility of love across difference, and the hope that it can exist even in this very dark moment.” He added, “There’s no question that we are in a challenging cultural moment for films that want to try to say that there can be an opening [between Israelis and Palestinians].”
How it came about
According to the interview, Witzenfeld’s connection to Khader dates back to his earlier work on “Oriented.” The director explains that the timing of the film’s development coincided with Netanyahu’s political fluctuations – a period when the prime minister was briefly out of power in 2021 before returning, which shaped the documentary’s focus on the couple’s resilience amid shifting state policies.
Key facts
- “Father Father” follows gay Israeli‑Palestinian couple Aviv and Khader as they travel to Texas for a surrogate birth on Oct. 6, 2023. (variety.com)
- The documentary premieres at Festival do Rio. (variety.com)
- Director Jake Witzenfeld began developing the film after Khader called him in spring 2021. (variety.com)
- A surrogacy agency tells the couple both parents must share the same religion, highlighting Israeli policy tensions. (variety.com)
- Witzenfeld says the film aims to show love across difference during a dark political moment. (variety.com)
Sources
- [1] variety.com — originally reported as “‘Father Father’ Director on Doc About a Gay Israeli-Palestinian Couple Who Have a Child on Eve of Oct. 7: It’s a ‘Beautiful Lesson Right Now’ (EXCLUSIVE)”
