‘The Bibi Files’ and 2 anti-Israel films make Oscar shortlists for best documentary & foreign film

The controversial documentary “The Bibi Files,” which features leaked footage from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s police interrogation, is banned from being in Israel and has no U.S. distribution. It is among the 15 movies shortlisted to receive an Oscar in the documentary films category.

The movie contains leaked, never-before-seen footage from the interrogations of Netanyahu in his corruption case, in which testimonies are ongoing at the moment. Israel has banned the footage, which contains leaked material from ongoing police investigations, while Netanyahu unsuccessfully attempted to ban a first screening in Toronto in September.

The prime minister’s lawyer argued that one of the producers, Israeli journalist Raviv Drucker, is a “political opponent” of the prime minister and intended to use the documentary to “end the prime minister’s rule.”

Dov Gil-Har, a journalist working for Israel's public broadcaster KAN News, and who attended the screening, said the film “claims that the war in the Gaza Strip continues in order to save Netanyahu politically and from justice.”

The footage comes from police interrogations conducted between 2016 and 2018 and was leaked to Alex Gibney, the main producer of "The Bibi Files,” in 2023.

In the same category, the Norwegian-Palestinian production, “No Other Land,” was also shortlisted.

The documentary, produced by two Palestinians and two Israelis, highlights alleged settler violence and the activism of two producers opposing the IDF’s demolition of illegal structures in the Judean region of Masafer Yatta. The film claims that the army’s actions amount to the expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland.

No Israeli film has ever won in the documentary films category, with the most recent nomination being "Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom," in 2015.

In the category of International Feature Film, the movie “From Ground Zero,” made the shortlist.

The anthology features 22 short films, including documentaries, fiction, animation, and experimental works, portraying the experiences of Gaza residents since Oct. 7 and the ensuing war.

No Israeli film has ever reached the shortlist stage. This year’s entry for International Feature Film was “Come Closer,” a film set in Tel Aviv and the Sinai peninsula, about “a troubled young woman who becomes obsessed with her deceased brother's girlfriend after his sudden death.”

Additionally, no Israeli film has ever won the International Feature Film category, with the most recent nomination being 2018’s “Footnote.”

The five final nominees for each category will be announced on Jan. 17, and the awards ceremony will be held on March 2.