Seeds Of Summer

" There is a price that a country has to pay to have an army that is formed by its people. It is not that we want it this way. It is not that we are raving to go to war. But this is the only way that we can survive..."

Hen Lasker, the director of Seeds of Summer, teared as she responded to a question after her documentary's screening just now.

As I silently sat in LT11, I slowly recounted all the emotions I felt 3 years ago.

'Seeds of Summer' (Zirei Kayitz) is a 2007 Israeli documentary that follows a batch of female transcripted soldiers as they undergo the voluntary but challenging "Combat instructor" course.

Filmed entirely on a handheld camera, the film records not only an informative overview of the course, but an intimate relationship that, the camerawoman-cum-director, Lasker shared with the cadets and the instructors.

Despite the hype, I felt that Seeds of Summer didn't really give us an in-depth understanding of what exactly were the trainings and programmes that their female soldiers had to endure.

Instead, the film's military theme is a subtle facade that smuggles more universal themes such as growing up, acceptance, success and failures.

As I watched the girls perform their fire movements (see above picture) and firing their "universal round", I can't help but smile to myself in gentle affirmation.

But what struck me most about the film, was the complete trading of objectivity for interactivity. Unlike many other documentaries I'm accustomed to, the camerawoman actively delves into her subjects, and spurring much of their social interaction.

"It is a lie to say that your camera has no effect on your subjects," Lasker explained.

How true, how true. But I wonder, if we do not draw the line between being an observer and a director, does a documentary lose its informative value as its form is manipulated?