Discoveries from Israel World Cinema

A day after the Shomron operation, during which one of the members of the Nahal settlement in Ashlim died, the settlement soldiers held a military ceremony in the presence of the Minister of Internal Affairs, followed by a dance and singing performance. After the show, the settlement members and their guests dined while the desert dust filled the air, reminding them that there is still much work to be done to flourish the desolation. At the art center, established in Ein Harod by the painter Haim Atar, an inspiring exhibition of the painter Candido Portinari, dedicated to the battle against war, is presented. The field festival was celebrated on the last day of Sukkot in Kibbutz Heftziba, marking the work and harvest of the field.

The inauguration ceremony of the monument to the victims of the Harel Brigade of the Palmach during the War of Independence in the cemetery in Kiryat Anavim. A glimpse into the work of the fishermen of Kibbutz Nachsholim on their ship Nachshol, sailing towards the fishing grounds off the coast of Turkey. A veterinarian performs surgery and removes nails and glass from a cow’s stomach. And finally, a request not to throw away cigarette waste where it could cause a fire.

Osnat is a teenage girl living with Down’s Syndrome who is fighting for her place in society, and her future. She does not get on with her peers, some of whom are prejudiced against individuals with special needs, whilst her mother makes sure all the others are kept at bay. The mother, a successful lawyer, has little patience for her daughter and her sort. One weekend, the pair head off to the countryside where Osnat’s grandmother lives. Uneducated and superstitious, Osnat’s mother is every bit as disdainful of her own mother as she is of her daughter. When a magician passes through the village, for a brief moment it seems as if the relationship between the three generations of women is about to turn a corner; however, the magician ends up disappearing as cryptically as he had appeared, leaving mother, daughter, and grandmother to find their own path to happiness.

Dooby (a vampire) and Micha (a werewolf) are roommates and live in a small apartment with a great legacy. One day, they find out about the concept of bills, and for the first time ever, decide to add a human roommate. Since then, things only get crazier.

1956, three photographers embarked on a mission to document the Hula wetlands before Israel drained them. Their rediscovered 16mm color footage reveals a pristine wilderness, vanished by human hands.

Adi wakes up to find that his girlfriend, Rona, has turned into an oversized bug overnight.

Joseph, a young handsome unemployed from a small town in the South, spends his nights at the local dance-bar. He's the best Latino dancer in town - all the girls fall for him, charmed by his sex appeal - especially Tom, the hottest girl and best dancer in town. In the meantime, in the big city, we meet beautiful Annabelle, the daughter of Ernest, a multi millionaire and her stepmother Suzie. The family lives with the memories of Annabelle's deceased mother, a European prima ballerina who committed suicide.

A love story between an arab man and a jewish woman.

Yonatan abandons the army in an attempt to reunite with his ex-boyfriend. After it turns into a failure, he finds himself alone in Tel Aviv, without a place to sleep. Broken and confused, he goes on a wild night's journey looking for consolation.

Saba Tuvia goes to the library with his grandchildren and tells them poems and stories about the Tanakh.

Eli is a 32 year old man who has problems with relationships with women. Hagar is a surrogate, an alternative partner for practical, sexual therapy. They meet once a week and practice a relationship and intimacy in laboratory conditions. The fictitious relationship between them exposes them both physically and emotionally and brings to surface repressed fears from the real world. The changes Eli goes through during the therapy, along with the secrets revealed, not only shake his own life, but also the life of his family. Between clinic walls, due to an "artificial" process, Eli learns how to love for the first time.

D. Uncle is going on a big musical adventure that teaches us about his morning routine, when an evil monkey steals all the colors from the world. D. Uncle goes on an adventure to fight the evil monkey to bring back the color to the world and save the entire humanity and his small animal farm so he can keep going on with his day and show us his daily routine.

A journey into the wedding night, where an ultra-Orthodox Jewish couple gets to know each other for the first time.

A well-intentioned Arabic-Muslim handyman upends the day-to-day lives of the locals in a small Israeli village. Shortly after his arrival, a young woman is assaulted and the community quickly turns accusatory. His employer is the only one who believes him, but even those loyalties are tested as more information and secrets are uncovered.

The World Chess Championship is a juicy battle, rife with passion, power and money. Boris Gelfand has spent his entire life getting ready for this moment; he was raised to become a champion since the age of six. His father devoted all his life to cultivating Boris' talent while obsessively documenting the process. The photo albums tell the father's story as much as that of the son, revealing a simple truth about a man living his own dreams through his son under the Soviet regime. Can any child, given fine Soviet education, become a genius? And is becoming a genius worth the price?

On the last night of the Second Lebanon War, Eden’s mother, a new immigrant from Russia, leaves for her long night shift at the hospital

The film, the second in a trilogy, containing "Misafa Lesafa" (2004) and "Traduire" (2011), deals with what became of Hebrew, the sacred language of the Jews for two millennia, that became a living language on the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. The film continues the reflection begun in the director's previous film, Misafa Lesafa (2004), which films writers and artists recounting the conflicting relationship that they themselves experienced between their parents' language and the Hebrew language.

An enchanting comedy about a Jewish professor and an Arab sanitation worker who discover a utterly surprising similarity in their uncommon interests. THE FLYING CAMEL is a celebration of the differences that signify each person as an individual and the bonds that can be made when we except each other.

A relentless rivalry between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a young, charismatic and vulgar composer and Antonio Salieri, the experienced, wealthy and acclaimed court composer of the Austrian emperor. Salieri sees the genius of the prodigy Mozart, understands his status and position in the court is at risk and driven by jealousy into madness, does everything in his power to impede his growth but is it possible to stop a talent granted by God?

As deeply hidden fears resurface, Sarah must confront her inner demons to find true peace.

A romantic dramedy that tells the story of sensitive man, jilted by his partner. He sits alone in his dark, empty flat in front of his typewriter, waxing nostalgic about his past relationships, and all of his loves and losses – from childhood to date. The film’s soundtrack features some of Israeli pop and rock’s most memorable tunes of the 20th century, including The High Windows’ First Love (‘ahava rishona’), Matti Caspi’s After You’ve Gone (And You) (‘acharei shenasat – ve’otach’), and Gazoz’s She’ll Never Know (‘hi lo teda’).

An observational documentary set in the Sderot lookout on the Israel-Gaza border, a charged memorial site. Today, a coin-operated telescope aimed directly at Gaza has been installed there. Visitors: children, soldiers, Birthright groups, foreign tourists, families, take turns swiping their credit cards to activate a telescope aimed directly at Gaza. Through their immediate reactions, the film captures a cross-section of Israeli and Jewish society encountering destruction in real time. The film becomes an observation of how we observe the suffering of others, inviting the viewer to confront a complex reality and the darker layers of the human soul.

Kuni Lemel's grandfather, who lives in Brooklyn, says he will give his fortune to the grandson who will move to Israel and marry a Jewish girl. The twin grandsons, Kuni the Orthodox and Moni the secular, compete for the money.

Monsters need love too!

A father who's daughter was killed in a terror attack, sets out on a quest for vengeance against the man who took everything from him and is now about to be released from prison.

Candid Camera hi-jinks featuring a lot of weird pranks involving sexy women doing sexy things, babies that cry from inside the womb and all kinds of public misbehavior. An international comedic troupe travels around the world to play some crazy tricks on innocent, unsuspecting people.

Tel Aviv, 2007. A man is so annoyed by a cat's on-going meows, that he decides to abduct the cat and deport it to the West Bank. He thus embarks on a long and complicated journey with the sole purpose of ridding himself of this unpleasant neighbour.

Two outcasts, a suicide bomber and an Israeli girl, fall in love during a desperate weekend in Tel Aviv.

In the heart of the desert lives calf 2300 and dreams of becoming a princess.

Vered, an attractive blind singer, meets and is befriended by three students. The trio decides to save enough money for the surgery which may restore Vered's sight. After many attempts, two of them commit petty theft and are sent to prison. The third takes Vered to the surgery which is successful. Although Vered regains her sight, she loses her friends...

Adi, a stubborn and messy teenage girl who is a serial latecomer, returns from work with a single mission: to get the book 'The Odyssey' for her little sister's birthday. However, a sequence of mishaps and unexpected encounters pushes her into a turbulent odyssey of her own through the city streets. Along the way, she copes with a loss of control, an encounter with a broken relationship, and the pressure to make it on time.

Student film by Folman where he documents his close friends taking cover on the verge of anxiety attacks during the first Gulf war while Iraqi missiles lands all over Tel Aviv.

This documentary consists solely of footage taken by people who were at the Nova Music Festival when the massacre started on October 7th.

Two shell-shocked veterans struggle to overcome their pain.

A portrait of various gay Orthodox Jews who struggle to reconcile their faith and their sexual orientation.

Summer 2011. Daphni Leef, a young video editor, pitches a tent in Tel Aviv’s famous Rothschild Boulevard as a protest against the exorbitant cost of living in the city. Within days, thousands of people across the country follow suit, and create a national movement spearheaded by the charismatic and articulate Leef. Six years later, Leef revisits the events of that summer, which, though they did not bring about a significant change in policy, had a momentous impact on public awareness in Israel, and on her private life. As Israel finds itself once again in turmoil, Before My Feet Touch the Ground is a reminder of the power of hope and solidarity.

Itamar and Thomas share a bed, walls, an apartment and electricity bills. Thomas commands, manages, and criticizes; Itamar is silent and listens. Between the apartment walls, frustration and loneliness unfold.

Lior, an aspiring journalist lives her life in chaos. The coffee can in her cabinet changes brands, her toothbrush switches color and her dreams of faraway places become increasingly bizarre. She is just about ready to believe she's going crazy when she encounters Ofer, who reveals to her that she is a Diver, someone who can dive between parallel universes. No sooner she begins to control her ability she becomes a target for the Diving Police, a cross universe police force that monitor and apprehend divers. Ofer, who is leading a resistance of divers opposing the police, is trying to recruit her to his cause. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Lior is forced to make decisions that will affect countless universes.

a monologue about lack of enjoyment in reality without drugs and an attempt to fill the void with any kind of pleasure including giving and receiving love, which evokes death drive which strengthens depressed thoughts.

Roberto, divorced with a failing business, his son Itay, a spoiled child that snubs his father and despises soccer, and the grandfather Samuel, an enthusiastic soccer fan that recently found out he doesn’t have much time to live, depart spontaneously to the World Cup Games in Brazil- their former homeland. Their unplanned trip turns into an emotional journey that changes all of them forever.

After years of sexual denial, Yiftach leaves his family to live alone in Tel-Aviv. Attracted to men but torn between his former and new life, Yiftach is consumed with blame and feels disconnected from everything around him. The drama moves between different time periods, raising penetrating questions regarding prejudice and life on the fringes of society.

The movie follows Ran's journey, whose main desire is to fulfill his potential. He is ready to deal with difficult experiences of not being accepted by his family and friends, physical and emotional changes, and even dangers to his health, but he is not willing to give up on himself and his happiness.

Fictional film based on the reality show The Buzaglos. After being denied for a new season of their show, the Buzaglo family learns they have inherited a large mansion in Budapest from a distant relative. They fly to Hungary to check it out, unaware that the original owner's sly lawyer schemes to keep the place to himself.

Two (female) soldiers are alone in the Israeli desert as a part of their final Officers' school Exam - A land navigation. Things are getting complicated when one of them can't find her weapon.

Eight friends throw a goodbye party to welcome the end of the world.

A documentary on how children are conforming to living in an Israeli kibbutz.

Ruta would do anything to bring her son and his ex-wife back together. First, to get the two of them to meet, she must kidnap their dog. Now all she has to do is convince her son he's nor gay.

A romance ends for a woman when she discovers the nature of her boyfriend's nocturnal excursions. Rejected by the army, he carries out a vendetta against society. The woman places herself in danger when she stands firmly between the boy and his mission.

A wedding hall is full, the groom, family and guests are waiting - the bride does not arrive. A bride from another wedding is sitting in a cafe and trying to decide - to get married or not to get married. Together with the waiters, she sits and discusses her relationship with her future son-in-law. The groom from the first wedding takes his car and hits the road. He enters the cafe and meets the confused bride.

Between the forest and the city, the journey of two ambiguous lovers seeking to preserve their togetherness.

Menachem, a former frontman for a rock band, is now religious, and a father to a six-year-old. When his daughter is diagnosed with cancer, he must find a creative solution to fund the expensive treatments. He reunites his band for one last tour. The journey to save his daughter exposes old wounds and allows him to reconnect with his secular past. Menachem understands that only a new connection to his past and to his music can pave the road to his own redemption.

Zaza, a kid from a family who have recently immigrated to Israel, steals money from his parents' closet. Zara wants to buy a card for his album collection, like all the other children in the area. His father refuses to accept such behaviour from a member of the family and wants Zara to confess. To test Zaza's conscience he is forced to punish Zara's younger brother Dato.

This film describes Israel as a country already far beyond identity crises in which anarchy is everywhere, violence is the norm and life is ruled by the world view of "the stupid, the evil and the corrupt".

On average, two Palestinian kids are arrested every night by the Israeli army. They are interrogated, tried, and sent to prison. TWO KIDS A DAY describes the use of minors' arrests to control and repress Palestinian society.