“The Film Asserts a Clear Political Analysis of Zionism, and Simultaneously Does So While Asserting That No Human Beings are Villains”: Tatyana Tenenbaum on Everything You Have Is Yours

Tatyana Tenenbaum’s Everything You Have Is Yours centers on NYC-based choreographer Hadar Ahuvia, specifically her coming to terms, through her chosen art form, with the colonialism and cultural appropriation that birthed the Israeli folk dances she was raised on in Hawaii (by way of Israel/Palestine) and which she still deeply loves. It’s a maddening conundrum that likewise could be applied to the Jewish state itself. As Ahuvia reflects towards the end of the intriguing doc, “Palestinians’ lives are at risk. And Israelis’ lives are at risk because Palestinians’ lives are at risk.” And while much of the film is focused on the acclaimed dancer and educator’s process, including the uncertainty and doubt that goes into creating any form of art, Tenenbaum has smartly chosen to expand her lens to also give voice to those who are quite literally on the other side. As a founder of Freedom Dabka Group, a Palestinian-American performance troupe that, per their mission statement, “use[s] the traditional Dabka dance as a means to connect to their community, their culture and each other,” puts it, “Freedom of movement is to be human.” In this case he’s referring to the situation faced by his own parents: whereas his Jerusalem-born mom can travel anywhere, his West Bank-reared dad can’t even leave the territory. Cut to the Staten Island-based artists performing at a wedding, reveling in their shared ancestral heritage. Not unlike the conflicted Ahuvia, currently in rabbinical school and still bent on squaring the dance circle. A few weeks before the DCTV premiere of Everything You Have Is Yours (May 2nd), Filmmaker caught up with the director-cinematographer-editor-EP to learn all about turning a decade-long artistic friendship into a feature debut.

To read my interview visit Filmmaker magazine.