Shadow of Truth

Shadow of Truth is a true-crime Israeli documentary television series that was created by directors Yotam Guendelman and Ari Pines, and producer Mika Timor. The series was produced by Timor, Guendelman and Ben Giladi through their EGG Films and premiered on Israeli channel HOT8 in March 2016. It was subsequently sold by the producers to Netflix for worldwide distribution and was released with subtitles in over 190 countries on January 27, 2017.[1][2][3] In 2018, the series was labeled as one of the most-watched true-crime shows on Netflix.

Shadow of Truth
GenreDocumentary
Written byAri Pines
Yotam Guendelman
Directed byAri Pines
Yotam Guendelman
Theme music composerAhuva Ozeri
Country of originIsrael
Original languageHebrew & Russian
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes4
Production
ProducersMika Timor, Ben Giladi and Yotam Guendelman
CinematographyEitan Hatuka
EditorGal Goffer
Running time42 minutes
Production companyEGG Films
DistributorNetflix
Release
Original networkNetflix
Picture formatDigital (HDTV)
Original releaseJanuary 27, 2017 (2017-01-27) –
present

The series has received positive reviews, and won several awards, including the 2017 Israeli Academy Television Awards for best documentary series, best editing and best visual-design and best special effects.[4]

In 2019, the creators of the show completed a follow up series titled Coastal Road Killer,[5][6] which premiered that same year in DOC NYC.[7]

Subject matter

The series follows the 2006 murder case of Tair Rada, a 13-year-old Israeli girl whose body was found in a school bathroom, and the subsequent arrest and trial of Roman Zadorov, a Ukrainian immigrant who had worked at the school. The series is divided into four episodes, each one exploring a different aspect of the case. The first episode focuses on the narrative of the police and prosecution, according to which Zadorov is guilty. The second episode centers on Zadorov's defense team and the deconstruction of his confession. The third episode deals with a widespread conspiracy theory spurred by social media, which points at Tair's classmates as the real culprits. The fourth episode reveals a never-heard-before testimony of a man (referred to in the series as A.H.), who told the police in 2012 that his ex-girlfriend had confessed the murder to him on the very day it happened.[8]

Reception

Shadow of Truth caused a major media storm and was at the center of public debate for months after being aired, raising many doubts concerning Zadorov's conviction while also exposing flaws in the criminal justice system as a whole.[9] Many critics hailed it as one of the most important shows in Israeli history, both for its in-depth investigative journalism and its high production value and strong artistic and cinematic qualities,[10][11][12] often comparing it to the American documentary series Making a Murderer which was released shortly before.[13][14][15]

Shadow of Truth created a stir within the Israeli judicial system, which resulted in harsh criticism from the President of the Supreme Court, Miriam Naor, as well as the Israeli State Attorney, Shai Nitzan, who called the series during a press conference "a danger to democracy." The series' creators responded by saying, "He who thinks that freedom of speech endangers democracy, is a danger to it himself."[16]

References
  1. Stern, Itay (January 28, 2017). "Netflix Buys Rights to Israeli True Crime Docu About Notorious Murder". Haaretz. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  2. Bonn, Tess (February 24, 2017). "'Shadow Of Truth' Trailer Shows Why It Could Be Netflix's Next 'Making A Murderer'". The Playlist. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  3. Jeng, Jonah (February 24, 2017). "The New Trailer for Netflix's Shadow of Truth Foretells an Israeli Making a Murderer". Paste. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  4. "Israeli Academy Television Awards Winners". NRG360 (in Hebrew). March 19, 2017. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  5. White, Peter (2019-07-17). "'Shadow Of Truth' Producer EGG Films Unveils First-Look At Israeli Serial Killer Doc Series 'The Coastal Road Killer'". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  6. "NFCT English | Coastal Road KillerNFCT English". nfct.org.il. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  7. "COASTAL ROAD KILLER". DOCNYC. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  8. Pulwer, Sharon (March 28, 2016). "Polygraph Backs Claim of Man Who Says Blood craving Ex girlfriend Killed Schoolgirl". Haaretz. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  9. Yanovsky, Roi (April 1, 2016). "Another boyfriend tells Ynet: Tair Rada murder case should be reopened". Ynet. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  10. Isaiah, Ido (March 26, 2016). "'Shadow of Truth' uncovers many doubts in the Tair Rada case". Walla!. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  11. "Why you have to see 'Shadow of Truth'". Mako (in Hebrew). March 27, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  12. "A danger to democracy or the most important show in Israeli history?". NRG360 (in Hebrew). April 4, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  13. Nguyen, Hanh (February 22, 2016). "Netflix's Israeli True Crime Docuseries Could Be the Next 'Making a Murderer'". IndieWire. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  14. Avivi, Yuval (May 1, 2016). "Israel gets its own 'Making a Murderer' series". Al-Monitor. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  15. "Who killed Tair Rada? Netflix's new true crime series "Shadow of Truth" is a haunting must-see". HuffPost. February 7, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  16. Pulwer, Sharon; Gueta, Jasmin (April 5, 2016). "Top Israeli Judge, Prosecutor Slam TV Documentary About Murdered Girl". Haaretz. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
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