The Cavalry

2024 | 17 min

Director, Camera, Edit by Alina Orlov

Sound, Original Score, Executive Producer: Patrick O'Shea

Official website: thecavalryfilm.com

This hybrid documentary examines the involuntary role of animals in human conflict. Filmed from January to September 2023 in Israel and the West Bank, it focuses on the Israeli Police Cavalry Unit, revealing how the horses’ training and out of this creates a subtly layered, provocative meditation on obedience and subjugation.

World premiere at Locarno Film Festival, August 2024, Pardi di Domani: Concorso Internazionale.

North American premiere at Vancouver International Film Festival, 2024, Canada.

South American premiere at FIDBA International Documentary Film Festival, Buenos Aires, 2024.

MoMA Doc Fortnight, New York City, February 22 & 28, 2025 – Doc Fortnight Shorts 1: Abstraction as Apprehension.

Antimatter [media art], 2024.

International Filmfest Bremen, 2025 – Fears – Innovation Shorts #3.

COSMIC RAYS Film Festival, 2025 – Program 2: Night Music.

Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena de Indias, 2025 – Animation section.

DMZ International Documentary Film Festival, 2025 – ESSAY section.

The Nashville Film Festival, 2025 – The Short Edge.

Society for Visual Anthropology Film & Media Festival, 2025 – In the Shadow of the State.

Kino Athens – International Independent Film Festival, 2025 – Short Film – Programme II.

XXIII Punta del Este Jewish Film Festival, 2025.

Artist Film Festival at Artport, 2025 – Claiming Space.

Bridge Video's Festival of Holes, 2025 – Part One: “Qualia Mirage”.

Prague Film Festival, 2025 – Short Docs.

The Portland EcoFilm Festival, 2025.

Director Statement

As a filmmaker who immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union and has chosen not to live there, I approached "The Cavalry" with a deep sense of questioning about power, belonging, and identity. My experiences as an outsider shaped my view on occupation and authority, compelling me to explore these themes. It is a film that invites dialogue on justice, resilience, and shared histories of conflict.