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At every stage of release, the Oscar-shortlisted documentary The Bibi Files has faced tremendous challenges – obstacles that might have derailed filmmakers without the fortitude of director Alexis Bloom and producer Alex Gibney.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, whose reputation takes a beating in the film, tried to block its unofficial world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last September. An Israeli court rejected his bid.
“It wasn’t surprising that [Netanyahu] had some kind of last-ditch attempt to stop the film, even though logically I don’t know how he thought that was possible,” Bloom says in a new interview for Deadline’s The Backstory. “Clearly, the courts in Israel don’t have any say over the courts in Canada. They don’t have jurisdiction over Canadians. So, on the one level I thought, wow, that wasn’t smart, because what was the legal basis for that? On another level, on sort of a psychological level, I found it totally unsurprising because Netanyahu is nothing if not thin-skinned.”
The Bibi Files is built around leaked interrogation videos of Netanyahu, his wife and eldest son as they were questioned by police examining corruption allegations against the prime minister that date back almost 10 years. He was indicted in 2019 for allegedly trading favors to wealthy businesspeople in exchange for expensive gifts including jewelry, fancy clothes and premium wine.
“The allegations are voluminous, substantial, and long… They all involve quid pro quos,” Bloom explains. “The first case that we deal with [in the film] is $250,000 worth of pink champagne, cigars and jewelry provided by Arnon Milchan, who’s a Hollywood producer and given to Netanyahu in return, allegedly, for certain favors. I must say ‘allegedly,’ because the trial is ongoing, but that’s the first accusation… The other [allegation] that we deal with in the film is slightly different. The sum of money is higher. It’s $400-450 million in benefits to a media tycoon called Shaul Elovich. Now, Shaul owns everything from Nokia cell phones and wireless cable internet in Israel, but also a news website called Walla, which has proved very popular in Israel.”
Bloom continues, “The allegation is that Netanyahu and his family sort of took over this news website and repurposed it for their own gain, asking for positive stories, better photographs, changing headlines, all of that sort of thing… In return, Shaul Elovich, got these regulation benefits. He was doing a big merger at the time.”
Perhaps more damning, the film features interviews with a number of observers who maintain Netanyahu has extended the war in Gaza for over a year and invaded Lebanon to forestall a prosecution that threatens his political career. Despite the film’s relevance to a war involving the Unites States’ closest ally in the Middle East – a war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives – no major U.S. distributor or streamer would touch The Bibi Files. (It is available on the Jolt platform, a new service that has essentially created a home for documentaries without mainstream distribution).
Referring to negotiations with potential distributors, Bloom says, “It was just told to us that it was too controversial. Or a streamer said, ‘Listen, we can’t do a film 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 to be had in other forums, on social media, in these small bite-sized chunks, nobody’s going to understand the issues in any depth.”
The news today that negotiators for Israel and Hamas have reached a deal for a ceasefire and a release of Israeli hostages makes The Bibi Files all the timelier. Crucially, the imminent return to power of Donald Trump – who enjoys a cozy relationship with Netanyahu – will have enormous implications for the war going forward, and the fate or remaining hostages. Bloom argues it’s imperative to pay close attention to the prosecution of Netanyahu because of its bearing on the geopolitics of an explosive part of the world.
“It’s important to Americans if you are at all invested in the region, because it’s not just Israel, it’s Israel-Gaza, notably at the moment, Lebanon, Syria. Israel has this huge impact on the region. And that’s important for everyone here [in the U.S.],” Bloom says. “It’s also important, I think, for diaspora Jews living here. I feel like a lot of people don’t want to criticize Israel because it feels antisemitic. This film is not anti-Israeli. All the critics of Netanyahu are Israeli. So, it’s not an antisemitic film. It’s a film that shows you there’s enormous and robust dissent within Israel against Netanyahu. And I feel it should give us all permission and courage to talk about Netanyahu like we do about any other politician.”
Watch the full conversation in the video above.
