Discoveries from Israel World Cinema

The criminal tries to help his army CO to win the tender. But situation becomes dangerous when CO discovers the outgoing affair between his sister and criminal.

Dudu doesn’t want to wear his fancy birthday suit, or listen to his mother. When he and his mother fight after he loses a watch that belonged to his father, they soon come to understand that a watch is not all they stand to lose.

The film tells the stories of LGBT men and women who, for religious reasons, decided to marry against their own sexual orientation, to comply with Torah laws and be accepted into their families and religious communities. Some shared their secret with their partners, some kept it hidden, and some lied even to themselves. After their divorces, they confront the conflicts they repressed: their faith and religious laws; children, family and community; exposure to society and search for a partner.

A wild Israeli horror-comedy, with neither boundaries nor responsibility, combining a dysfunctional family, demons, murders, a dark legend and a lot of chaos.

Life is made of repeatable stories, accounts and questions. Birth and death, joy and sickness, youth and old age. In ‘Clinging’ Liat Glick focuses the camera on herself to tell a tender story about a trio made of a mature 47-year-old daughter without a partner or children, her mother and Natasha’s beloved aging dog. This subtle cinema, which applies semi-documentary means, focuses on the woman, her concerns and feelings. It is endearing with its authenticity and fairness revealing the most delicate sphere of the protagonist’s life. It remains close to a human without falling into any radicalism.

As a young man, Rael was visited by aliens who proclaimed him to be 'the last prophet'. That was in the 1970s. Today, the charismatic Frenchman is the leader of the world's largest UFO religion.

Featuring four outstanding films "Desires of the Flesh", "Girls", "The Love Letter", "A Family Affair".

The primary defender of Israeli nature is virtually the only person breaking ground in the talks between Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians. A religious scholar who lives in the territories, Professor Yossi Leshem is waging an uncompromising battle for coexistence between the parties with the aid of birds. Through a project that he initiated, barn owls are used as exterminators in the fields to prevent pollution of the groundwater for everyone. But Prof. Leshem dreams of implementing the project even further in the entire Middle East, enabling the birds of prey to survive instead of becoming extinct while simultaneously bringing together the divided peoples.

Haunted by guilt, Neta attends a support group in the hope of escaping a past that refuses to let go. But an unexpected encounter unsettles her fragile sense of safety, pushing her toward a point of no return.

Reibenbach describes: "In my parents kitchen, Holocaust survivors, I read precisely and gracefully the trace of history, which even in the folds of silence refuses to be forgotten".

Since the death of her mother, Lisa has been the mother of her three brothers. At night, the only time she has to herself, she writes. When she wins a student scholarship in Jerusalem, she has to face the difficult dilemma: to leave or to remain at home taking care of the problematic family.

Dan is facing a critical time in his life. He is torn between his boyfreind, who wants to declare their love to the world, and Uri, his son who comes for a visit but knows nothing about his dad.

Director Yeud Levanon’s feature-length debut follows the story of Itzik (Gedalia Besser), a military radio station producer who, in between having to navigate all the internal power struggles at the station, must also juggle his estranged wife (Gila Almagor), teenage daughter, young pregnant partner (Dafna Armoni), and a soldier with whom he is having an affair (Irit Sheleg). Meanwhile, he is also working on getting a young Middle Eastern folk singer’s (Arnon Zadok) album produced. The film’s protagonist is living a mile-a-minute life made up of constant downward spirals or ego-tripping highs. However, try as he might to have his cake and eat it – it is only a matter of time until his whole world comes crashing down on him.

Menachem and Rosa Greenberg, a couple of Holocaust survivors, have had a difficult life. Their friend, Morris Greenspan, made his fortune in Canada through shady deals, and is a despicable character who urges the couple to emigrate from Israel to the good life in Canada. Their son, Chaim "Chaimon" Greenberg, is aware of the growing conflicts in his parents' home in light of their financial difficulties and the interference of their mysterious friend, who is also secretly courting his mother. His sister, Miri, is a naive teenager who falls under the spell of Shultz "the Hontroveltnik". Other participants in the film include Oshik Levi as the taxi driver, their neighbor and friend of their parents, Shai Idelson as Gaby, Chaimon's best friend and the taxi driver's son, and Sini Pater as Uncle Leizer from the kibbutz, who represents the Zionist antithesis to Morris's exile and smoothness. In the end, after a crisis that threatens the narrator's world, the family decides to stay in Israel.

Shortly before her passing, Golda Meir was interviewed for Israeli television. After shooting ended, the cameras kept rolling, recording an intimate talk with the first and only woman to ever rule Israel. As she lit one cigarette after the other, Golda spoke freely, pleading her case for her term as Prime Minister – five turbulent years that secured her place in history, albeit at a high personal cost. Based on these never-before seen materials, testimonies of supporters and opponents and rare archival footage, GOLDA tells the story of Meir’s dramatic premiership – from her surprising rise to power and iconic international stature as “queen of the Jewish people”, to her tragic and lonely demise.

Who would have thought that the beautiful monastery at Gamal House would become a murder scene on a particularly rainy night? And in the forests of Jerusalem, where families picnic every day, a cruel murderer is hiding and waiting to hunt down the next victim?

Rabbi David Buzaglo was the greatest Hebrew liturgical poet of the twentieth century. Born in Morocco in 1903, his literary output had a major impact on a community of hundreds of thousands of people. From his prolific period in the Diaspora to the years he spent in a ruptured Israel, Buzaglo's poetry initiated an abrupt shift in Sephardic liturgical writing, but it also served as a vital link between the modern era and a tradition that dates back to Spanish Jewry's Golden Age. But Buzaglo was more than just a great poet. The actions he took at seminal moments in history had a critical impact in shaping the identity of Maghreb Jews. This film is an intimate look at Buzaglo's life and career, from its roots in the rich tradition of Hebrew poetry in Morocco through the liturgical revolution in Israel.

The insecure Amitai finally gets invited to the appartment of the desirable Aitan. But when Aitan reveals his special secret to Amitai, the tabels turn and the dominant becomes the submissive.

Yair, an ultra-Orthodox Yeshiva student, opens an electronics shop in "Geula", a neighborhood that is the shopping epicenter for the entire ultra-Orthodox community in Jerusalem. The religious character of the neighborhood is enforced by the "Geula Committee" and Yair strictly adheres to their rules. His shop is introducing a world of advanced technology that overnight becomes a magnet for every ultra-Orthodox household, but the increasing intrusion of modernity is an affront to the committee, leading to an inevitable conflict that forces Yair into a desperate struggle for survival.

Long estranged from her apathetic father, an esteemed Israeli painter, the filmmaker visits an exhibition of his most stirring and revealing self-portraits in Tel Aviv. Hoping that the exhibition will deepen her understanding of him as a person and as an artist—and that it will serve as the catalyst that reignites the connection between them—she endeavours to capture it all on film. As she unearths a lifetime of her feelings of neglect through unguarded conversations with other members of her family, she begins to understand just how much his absence has eroded her sense of self. And though her father's love eludes her, she remains masterfully determined to make meaning out of the void.

Somewhere in Jérusalem, two girls have been sharing an apartment for two years. Now one of them is leaving, and the other, while searching for an appropriate replacement, can't let go of what was between them, or what it could have been.

An untold side of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: gay Palestinians - Louie, Abdu and Fares - are hiding in Tel Aviv, and until they escape, they must remain 'the invisible men'.

The story of "Lips" — a wedding band from Sderot that brought the Moroccan language and rhythm from peripheral celebrations to the forefront of the Israeli mainstream.

Ronnie is a teenage girl who’s struggling to find her place in the world. But that’s okay because she has a best friend, Emi, whom she never met. Together they do everything, talk about everything and Ronnie even asks for advice for an upcoming date. Ronnie learns about herself from the farthest person she ever met.

An Israeli tour in the Golan Heights landscapes immediately after the Six Day War in which the area was occupied. The visitors go by a variety of interesting places, from the Syrian city of Quneitra to the inviting Ram Pool, to the Hermon-Banias River and Pan Cave.

These are the memories of a lost girlhood. When they were only five or six or ten years old, their parents snatched them from the playground and handed them to much older men to be married. They recall the violence and fear they were subjected to, the pregnancies at the age of eleven or twelve, becoming mothers when they were still little girls themselves. It was an open secret but one they put aside forever, because revealing it might tear their family apart, causing commotion and creating chaos. The memories of their tragic childhood never healed – they were simply suppressed for the sake of their children, their livelihoods, and their husbands. No more.

16mm Short Film by Amos Sefer.

Orthodox teacher and wigmaker, Ruchama and Tikva, embark on a journey to fulfill their dream of making movies within the closed society in which they live. Ruchama is writing and producing her first film while Tikva prepares for her first acting role. Like other orthodox women who in recent years have started making films for strictly female audiences, they feel a strong need to express themselves despite strict rabbinical censorship. The Dreamers delicately sketches the portrait of women trying to break new ground as artists in a patriarchal world. Will they find freedom in their art.

At his grandfather’s shiva, 20-year-old Alon completely derails the family mourning by presenting a highly inappropriate slideshow. After being kicked out , he discovers a vintage photograph of a mysterious, beautiful woman among his grandfather's belongings, with a cryptic address on the back. Obsessed and profoundly misguided, Alon drags his frustrated boss into a bizarre, cringe-inducing quest across town to find her. But as his desperate search alienates everyone around him , it leads him straight toward a shocking truth that will completely shatter his reality.

A film essay by Asher de Bentolila Tlalim, an Israeli filmmaker living in London, GALOOT ("Exile" in Hebrew) is an extended meditation on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the eyes of those living at a distance. Through international visits (London, Israel, Morocco and Poland) and dialogue-with Palestinian refugees, the new immigrants to Israel who now occupy their homes, the current occupants of his family's former house in Tangiers, the residents of the former village of his wife's family in Lisensk, a scientist, a jazz musician, and others-the filmmaker explores the position of exile, with its unique pain and perspective on what others may be too close to perceive.

Israel's most celebrated war photographer, Micha Bar-Am, unfolds his extraordinary archive of over half a million negatives. A life devoted to recording a conflict for the prestigious Magnum agency.

A Sephardic Baalei Teshuva family tries to integrate within the insular Ashkenazi Haredi community in Bnei Brak. Their son Raphael, a prodigy, is not accepted into a prestigious yeshiva. His mother, Ahuva, tries to handle the situation peacefully, but his father, Shmuel, a handyman with great faith, struggles to accept the situation. Shmuel fights to change this decree, leading to the family’s ostracization and their children’s expulsion from local institutions. A dramatic event shakes both the family and Haredi society, probing their shared faith. The film explores the struggles of Baalei Teshuva, their faith, their escape from the past, and the personal cost of their journey.

As The morning rises over Tel Aviv, Dror encounters Eitan, his ex. Both are on their way back home from a long night out. When it turns out that Eitan has moved right across the street from Dror’s apartment, they realize that they have no choice but to take their “walk of shame” together.

Avi Malka (Danny Steg), a 32-year-old divorcee, is a junior officer at a rear base who has never managed to advance in the army or muster the courage to retire to civilian life. Avi's greatest love is his 9-year-old son Ron, whom he tries to teach to be tough and get by in life. Ron, who admires his father and is afraid of disappointing him, does not tell him that he is being beaten and blackmailed at school.

An account of a fresh nightmare disturbs the Saturday morning of an estranged middle-aged couple.

During an ugly divorce battle, Oded takes his son to the police station to file a complaint. When his son refuses to go into the station alone, Oded insists on finding a way for his voice to be heard too – even if it means sacrificing his son.

A lifeless librarian with no social skills is chased by the voice in his head until one of them had enough...

An enormously wealthy older woman returns to her former hometown with a dreadful bargain: she wants the townspeople to kill the man who got her pregnant, then jilted her. In exchange, she will provide enough money to revitalize the decrepit town.

One evening, Didi sat in front of the computer and called his mother to come and play with him. But mother was busy. “You’re always busy when I need you!” Didi was angry, “I need you now!” Didi, an impatient boy, embarks on a fascinating journey to the land of magic. On his way, he meets colorful characters who block his path and pile up difficulties. From his friends, the jackal and the giraffe, Didi learns the language of the heart, a language of non-violent communication that opens every door. The giraffe has “magic keys” with which Didi solves his problems creatively and in pleasant ways. Wait patiently, take a deep breath, use the magic keys: “explain..observe…express feelings…”

A drama inspired by the best-selling autobiography "Why Me" by Jacob Damkani. "A New Spirit" tells the story of two brothers, Jacob and Shmuel, who grew up in a poor, traditional Jewish family. As they mature, Shmuel becomes more orthodox and religious while Jacob is exposed to Christianity and ends up becoming a leader of Messianic Judaism, spreading the word of Jesus. Shmuel and the entire Orthodox community treat Jacob as a radical missionary and accuse him of stealing pure Jewish souls. The conflict between the two brothers escalates to real violence when an attempt is made to kill Jacob, causing the dissolution of the entire family.

This is a film about the lifes of a few people, living in south Tel-Aviv, and slightly connected to the life of crime. Each of'em has his dreams his complections, his.. beauty. So they form this beautiful idea to steal an icon from a heavy Mafia guy they knew for years, sell it in Paris, and begin a new flashing life of dream-fulfillment.

This moving and special documentary follows two special needs Israeli correspondents on the quest to interview President Obama.

In Beyond Guilt the two artists create a portrait of our generation in three parts. In Tel Aviv, in confined spaces such as toilets or bars of hotel rooms, they create situations in which participants answer questions and describe themselves. Camera in hand, there is little editing in their works, leaving a rather crude result. The camera becomes the witness of exchange between the participants and the artists in a relationship of power and seduction. These people could easily have counterparts in Western societies. Yet, what is ultimately disturbing is the contradiction between a very light form of life turned to pleasure, sex, or transgression and violence. One in which we perceive the trauma of a permanent war, a conflict sometimes assumed and claimed.

Three graffiti artists from Israel and their daily lives as artists in the street scene.

In the 1970s and 1980s, a long line of young women were murdered along the Coastal Highway. All bodies were found in open areas, within the same 10-kilometer radius, after they were raped, beaten and strangled to death with a bra or another clothing item affixed to their necks. The striking similarities between the murders raise a serious concern that they were all committed by one sadistic killer, who managed to outwit the law and evade justice. Titled “Shadow of Truth: Coastal Road Killer,” the second season of the award-winning Documentary-Crime series goes back in time, in an attempt to solve one of Israel’s most enigmatic mysteries, tracing the most vicious serial killer in the history of the country.

A film teacher has to teach in Sderot and change the lives of his students.

Two songs from Israeli lesbian singer Sharon Ben-Ezer.

Doctor Yoel Pomerantz is a washed-up, self-loathing psychologist who lives on the 12th floor of a high-rise with his Aspberger's son, Yoav, who spends his days pretending to be a traffic cop and proudly giving out parking tickets. Dr. Pomerantz sees a few patients a week, barely enough to keep he and Yoav in ramen noodles and with a roof over their heads. In addition, he works shifts at a suicide hotline. When he gets desperate financially, he recruits hotline callers to see him privately, which is discovered and results in his getting unceremoniously fired.

Against the backdrop of a land dispute between Jews and Arabs in the Galilee, an unusual and hopeless romance develops between Chava, the urban sister of Gedaliah who owns the land, and Khaled, his Arab laborer.

On an urban cross-walk, Neta runs into a man who touches her abruptly and without her consent. Without coming up with a clear plan, Neta finds herself following him.

Following a sudden, violent encounter, an estranged son and his father are forced into an uneasy alliance in the cold desert night.

A Tel Aviv municipality has founded an elementary school in its southern region. It will have pupils from all walks of life - including refugee children.

Michael and Dana are a married couple, who live an inert life, typical for young people in the big city. An unexpected crisis shakes their world and forces them to make a reckoning of their relationship and life choices.

This documentary follows the investigation of the murder of Mela Malevsky by Aviva Granot and Eva Yeari. It combines interviews, archival photographs and recordings and extensive reconstruction by actors and actresses. All this in order to illustrate the events that took place in the interrogation room and outside.

A lockdown is about to go into effect in a few hours, and nothing scares Niva more than being alone. When she embarks on a search for someone to stay with, the encounters with different people in her life will lead her to an unpredictable choice.

"PRIME TIME MOM", courageously attempts to answer the question: What would happen if a member of parliament's son were kidnapped to Gaza during the events of October 7th? The film follows Gur (played by Evyatar Ozari), the son of Knesset Member Dafni Gut (played by Orna Banai) and a senior news editor, who is forced to choose between his career and his disintegrating family. He must conceal the fact that his brother has been kidnapped to Gaza, while his mother uses unethical means to rescue him. Meanwhile, the 24 News' CEO, Ofer (played by Shahar Hasson), begins to suspect that she is hiding something from the public. The film, which was written by Matanel Gotlib, real-life son of a Knesset Member Tally Gotlib, and a real-life news director, offers a unique perspective on family and politics as never before seen, as well as on the world of media.

Minutes after Danny Dingot proposes to Mika, he discovers that his penis is missing. Meanwhile, his tool – “Ringo” – is already celebrating its independence all over town. Mika is pulled into an affair with Ringo, the Police open an investigation, Shlomo Artzi comes to the rescue, and the plot thickens when Ringo enlists to the IDF.