A trailer for The Gatekeepers has just hit the web and the movie is due for release in the US on February 1, 2013. The documentary, directed by Dror Moreh, features in-depth interviews with all of the surviving former heads of Shin Bet. Avraham Shalom, Yaacov Peri, Carmi Gillon, Ami Ayalon, Avi Dichter and Yuval Diskin.

After making the official selection for last year’s Venice, Telluride, New York and Toronto film festivals, the movie will now gain a wider audience, to tell the tale of the many Palestinian attacks that have taken place in Israel over the last few decades. The movie features archive footage from over the years, as well as computer animated scenes, revealing the work that the Shin Bet agency undertook and dealing with issues such as the Tel Aviv suicide bombings and the Six Day War.

The director, Dror Moreh said “In The Gatekeepers, I go to the heads of the Shin Bet, the people with the power to shape history from behind the scenes. Living in the shadows, they have never spoken about their work in front of a camera before… I went to each of the Gatekeepers and asked them to tell me their life stories. I wanted them to share their unique perspective on the Arab-Israeli conflict. I was startled, but also thrilled, when they agreed. This gave me an unprecedented, intimate opportunity to enter the inner sanctum of the people who have steered Israel’s decision-making process for almost half a century.” 

Watch the trailer for The Gatekeepers