A common practice in Israeli (and some American Jewish high schools) is to send students to Poland and visit Auschwitz
The Israeli Youth Delegations to Poland are in theory meant to instill Jewish students with an understanding of their history. There are accusations of propagandistic intentions of these delegations and while director Asaf Saban doesn’t dive deep into the political ramifications of these trips, he does examine that element through a more unique and interesting way, through the eyes of a coming-of-age story. Even if the average viewer doesn’t know anything about Israeli Youth Delegations, they would understand what it’s like to be in high school and realize everything they knew about life, the government, society is a total lie. It’s a realization lots of teenagers grapple with alongside the general exhaustion of growing up. Saban’s latest film, Delegation, is a great example of how a political issue can be explored through the more universal lens of a teenager.
Delegation follows three high school students, Frisch (Yoav Bavly), Nitzan (Neomi Harari) and Ido (Lieb Lev Levin), on their delegation to Poland. Asaf Saban frames the delegation as a coming-of-age story, and that framing helps make the story more accessible. The film is, at its core, a coming-of-age story, with the romantic drama, teen angst, and existential dread that can be found in a lot of high school films. The delegation to Poland works as a framing device for this type of story, as touring the graveyards and concentration camps is the perfect place for Israeli and Jewish students to self-reflect. Plus, they’re high schoolers, there’s going to be high school drama no matter where they go. At the same time, high school is the age of questioning traditional systemic structures, and Delegation showcases that questioning well.
Of the three storylines, Frisch’s story is my favorite. His slow realization of the artificiality of the Delegation’s mission statement and the hypocrisy of all the students involved is excitingly told. His Holocaust survivor’s grandfather understanding of his role in the delegation’s structure is also compelling, and the film would’ve benefited from deeper, more aggressive examination of these ideas. Instead, the film balance’s this story with Nitzan and Ido, and that’s where some of the film’s flaws become more apparent. Nitzan and Ido’s stories are a bit more traditional coming of age fair, filled with love triangles and angst. They aren’t bad stories or bad characters, but Saban seems to have difficulty balancing the three narratives. Nitzan’s story feels too rushed, and Ido’s story feels too slow, though thankfully both Harari and Levin’s performances respectively keep their character engaging. I found myself waiting for Frisch to come back and wishing the film was more specifically about him. Even Frisch’s more traditional coming of age story beats feel more entertaining because he’s such an interesting character, aided by Bavly’s engaging performance.
While Delegation has its narrative flaws, they don’t take away from its compelling story and rich characters. It’s relatability, complexity, and layered meanings beyond the typical coming-of-age fair, make it a solid watch. I think it could’ve benefit from a couple more drafts where it dove deeper into its themes, but the ideas it raises regarding performative positivity and exploitation mold shocking well with the genre format it adopts. This is probably a film that’d hit harder for Jewish high schoolers, and I could imagine students that would latch onto Delegation as a formative favorite.
