Jerusalem Film Festival announces Israeli lineup

Israeli movies have always been the heart and soul of this festival, Israel’s longest-running film event, and many movies that premiered in it went on to win international acclaim. This year, the Israeli program includes a wide-ranging lineup of feature films, documentaries, shorts, experimental films, and restored classics. Most are world premieres.

The total amount of prizes to be awarded in the Israeli and international competitions this year will be about NIS 1 million.

The Haggiag Competition for Israeli Feature Films will include How to Feel, directed by Hadas Ben Aroya, about an Israeli dancer and a German poet who fall in love in Berlin, only to find their relationship shaken by a crisis that takes them to an unexpected place.

Also in the competition is Amal, directed by David Ofek and Nahad Bashir, which tells the story of a woman fighting to save her son and stop a cycle of revenge in her village, as clan violence spins out of control.

The Wedding Entertainer (The Tale of Moishe Badhan), directed by Gidi Dar, just had its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival. Written by Shuli Rand from a story by Rand and Dar, the film stars Rand, Tal Friedman, Elon Gold, and Tzofit Grant-Rand. It’s about a man who was once Jerusalem’s greatest party entertainer, whose alcoholism destroyed his career, as he battles to regain his past glory working for an American.

Efrat Corem’s Heart of Goldstars Chen Amsalem Zaguri, Israel Atias, and Menashe Noy. It tells the story of a bus ticket inspector in Ashkelon who finds an abandoned baby on a bus and takes him home, an impulsive decision that brings up past trauma.

Ruthy Pribar’s What is to Come, which premiered at Tribeca, will have its Israeli premiere in Jerusalem. It stars Ronit Yudkevitch, Yaakov Zada Daniel, and Tovit Addis-Samai, and tells the story of Yehudit, who, after nearly losing her life, escapes to Eilat and tries to begin again.

The Diamond Competition for Israeli Documentary Films will include 269, directed by Keren Yehezkel-Goldstein and Noam Stolerman, about a radical animal-rights protest movement sparked by one dramatic action in Tel Aviv, and the unexpected love story at its center.

Yael Abecassis’s I Am New follows a boy who was critically injured in a car accident at the age of three and a half. The driver was, and remains, his best friend. Built from hundreds of hours of intimate footage, the film documents his long rehabilitation and a family that insists on compassion as a key to healing.

Good Morning Gaza, directed by Hanan Brandes and Matan Skopsky, tells the story of a reservist tank driver who broadcasts an improvised podcast to soldiers over the military radio network, opening a window into the psyche of people at war through candid interviews and clips.

Sarah’s Life, directed by Shir Huri-Abu, follows a 21-year-old woman who has left the haredi world and discovers that she is unexpectedly pregnant. Moving between temporary apartments and searching for a place to belong, she is forced to confront memories from her past.

Find Me, OK?, directed by Yola Gidron, documents two years in the lives of the mother and sisters of murdered hostage Eden Yerushalmi, who did everything they could to bring her back from Hamas tunnels, and after nearly a year of struggle, were forced to find a way to live without her.

The festival will also hold a special world premiere screening of David Fisher’s documentary The Survivor in a Tuxedo: In Search of Elie Wiesel. The film offers an intimate and searching portrait of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, examining questions about ambition, memory, and the burden of bearing witness.

In a special tribute to Israeli film history, the festival will present restored digital versions of Uri Barbash’s classic Beyond the Walls and the short films Crows, by Ayelet Menahemi, and A Big Girl, by Nirit Yaron. The screenings are part of the ongoing restoration project of the Israel Film Archive at the Jerusalem Cinematheque, which works to preserve Israeli classics and convert them into high-quality contemporary digital formats.

The Israeli Short Film Competition will feature 16 fiction, documentary, and animated films. The winner of the best short film prize will be eligible to submit the film for consideration for the Academy Awards.

The festival will also present nine works in the Video Art and Experimental Cinema Competition, held in cooperation with Mamuta Art and Research Center. The competition showcases contemporary Israeli experimental cinema and video art made in the past year.

The Wim Van Leer Young Creation Competition will offer a first platform for debut films by high school film students from around the country, in a festive screening of selected documentary and fiction films.

The festival will open, as always, at Sultan’s Pool under the stars, in front of an audience of 6,000 guests and movie lovers.

The opening-night film will be the Israeli premiere of Tell Me Everything, the new film by Moshe Rosenthal, at Sultan’s Pool. The film stars Assi Cohen, Keren Tzur, Yair Mazor, Ido Tako, Mor Dimri, and Neta Orbach, and will be screened in the presence of the filmmakers and actors.

Tell Me Everything had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, marking the first time in a decade that a full-length Israeli feature film was included in that festival. Produced by Green Productions and United King Films, the film is Rosenthal’s follow-up to Karaoke, which won several Ophir Awards and was a critical and popular success.

Set in 1987, Tell Me Everything tells the story of Boaz, who discovers a shocking secret just before his bar mitzvah about his admired father, Meir. Nine years later, Boaz sets out in search of his estranged father and is forced to confront the memories and choices that have haunted him ever since.

The international program, which will include Israeli premieres of films that have been shown at such festivals as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto, and many others, will be announced soon.

The festival was conceived and founded by Jerusalem Cinematheque founder and Israel Prize laureate Lia Van Leer.