Flyout Menu
Main Menu

Holding Liat

Director

Brandon Kramer

Executive Producers

Elliott Joseph, Janine Frier, Alexandra Shiva, Ted Haddock, Albert Wenger, Gigi Danzinger

Consulting Producers

Marilyn Ness, Libby Lenkinski

Producers

Darren Aronofsky, Lance Kramer, Yoni Brook, Ari Handel, Justin A. Gonçalves

Co-Producer

Hilla Medalia

Editor

Jeff Gilbert

Cinematographers

Yoni Brook, Omer Manor

Sound

Tristan Baylis

Music

Jordon Dykstra

On the morning of October 7, 2023, Israeli-American Liat Atzili and her husband Aviv were at home when Hamas attacked their kibbutz. By nightfall, Liat and Aviv are captives in Gaza along with 250 other people—12 of whom, like Liat, are American citizens.

Caught between international diplomacy and a rapidly escalating war, their family must face their own uncertainty and conflicting political perspectives in the pursuit of Liat and Aviv’s release. This agonizing process, and the ultimate fate of their loved ones, challenges how the members of the family understand themselves and their place in the conflict.

Through the intimate lens of a family’s experience, HOLDING LIAT poses complex questions of identity across generations, as the family is thrust into the epicenter of a global conflict rapidly unfolding in real-time.

Post-screening discussion with director Brandon Kramer, producer Lance Kramer, film participants Liat Benin Atzili and Yehuda Beinin, moderated by Hanna Rosin, senior editor at The Atlantic and host of Radio Atlantic.

Brandon Kramer

Brandon Kramer

Filmmaker

Brandon Kramer is a Washington, DC-based filmmaker and co-founder of Meridian Hill Pictures alongside his brother, Lance Kramer. Most recently, he directed HOLDING LIAT, which won the Best Documentary Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, was shortlisted for the 2026 Academy Awards, and broadcast on BBC Storyville. His previous directing credits include THE FIRST STEP, which premiered at the Tribeca Festival; CITY OF TREES, which broadcast on PBS and streamed on Netflix; and the Webby Award-winning documentary series THE MESSY TRUTH, which premiered on CNN.