A new feature documentary, “ The Bibi Files ”, produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney and directed by Alexis Bloom, delves into the life of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The two-hour film, which will be showcased as a work-in-progress at the Toronto Film International Festival, features never-before-seen police interrogation footage of Netanyahu.

These recordings were collected between 2016 and 2018 as part of a comprehensive investigation into potential charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust against the Israeli Prime Minister.

In 2023 the recordings were leaked to Gibney. They feature extensive interviews with Bibi, his wife Sara, his son Yair, the Prime Minister’s friends and associates as well as household employees.

“These recordings reveal insights into Netanyahu’s character in a way that is unprecedented and extraordinary,” says Gibney. “They are compelling evidence of his venal and corrupt nature and how that has led us to where we are today.”

Thom Powers, lead TIFF documentary programmer calls “The Bibi Files” “a work of exceptional documentary journalism. Alexis Bloom and Alex Gibney secured revelatory footage that no one has seen before, then conducted in-depth interviews with a wide range of individuals including those from the highest levels of the Israeli government. It exemplifies what makes long-form documentaries so crucial to our culture for covering a story that’s been unfolding for many years. We’re living in a time when traditional journalistic outlets have experienced significant cutbacks, so independent companies like (Gibney’s) Jigsaw Productions are needed more than ever to step up.”

Netanyahu has been indicted on charges of fraud, bribery, and breach of trust in three cases filed in 2019.

Despite being recorded over eight years ago, these recordings, comprising thousands of hours of interviews in Hebrew, have remained unseen, even within Israel, due to the country's strict privacy laws.

“Netanyahu's personality and demeanor are vividly revealed in these recordings,” explains Bloom. “What sets this film apart from news reports or documentaries focusing on the Israel-Palestine conflict is its intimate and deeply human portrayal of the individuals at the heart of the news headlines.”

Bloom, who previously collaborated with Gibney on “Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes” and “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks,” emphasizes that the documentary utilizes these interrogation videos as a gateway into the complex story of Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, having held office for six terms – a record in the country's history.

“Our objective in this film was to connect these interrogations and the corruption trial to the subsequent events,” says Bloom, who commenced work on the project before the October 7 attacks that ignited the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel.

“The Bibi Files” delves into both Netanyahu’s present and past, and according to Gibney, “reveals a Shakespearean quality to the man, in the sense that his gradual corruption and desperate desire to cling to power led him to engage in serious wrongdoing, for which we are now seeing evidence.”

Bloom explains that Netanyahu’s proposed overhaul of Israel’s judicial system in 2023 was a significant factor in her decision to join the film.

“(Netanyahu’s government) attempts to overhaul the Supreme Courts and then conducted the war in a way that would have never happened if he did not have such an extreme coalition,” she says.

Bloom, whose father is Jewish and strongly believes in Israel’s right to exist, has visited Israel numerous times throughout her childhood and adulthood. Both she and Gibney say that they set out to make a documentary that doesn’t preach to any specific group. Instead they consider the film, which features only Israelis, as a truth-to-power documentary that focuses on human rights and not just Israeli-Palestinian rights.

“I’ve made a real effort to find common ground in this film – something that we can all agree on,” says Bloom. “Netanyahu's prolonged tenure is something that many Israelis would agree on and many Palestinians would agree on too. They might differ when you delve deeper into what’s the solution to the Middle East crisis. They will certainly diverge on that, but actually I think that most people, except for the hardcore Bibist, would agree that Netanyahu has to step down.”

Both Bloom and Gibney decided to showcase the film, which is seeking distribution, at TIFF as a work-in-progress due to the ongoing conflict.

“There’s a sense of urgency in terms of confronting this material and confronting Netanyahu’s character at a time when we’re being told, ‘Oh, these discussions can wait because Netanyahu’s in the midst of a war,’” says Gibney. “We believed it was crucial, and frankly, our duty as global citizens to share our story as soon as possible because people are dying every day.”

The streamers’ preference for celebrity or true-crime nonfiction offerings over anything dealing with thorny, complicated issues or figures makes the Netanyahu documentary a difficult sale. But Bloom and Gibney are confident that it will find a home.

“We are not trying to dictate what should be done regarding the conflict,” says Bloom. “This film is a portrait of the man (Netanyahu), and it’s a portrait of his family. I think that the film is more engaging than a lot of political reporting on this, so, I hope somebody has the courage to pick it up.”

“The Bibi Files” will screen at TIFF on Sept. 9 and 10.