Discoveries from Israel World Cinema

Daphne and her four children try to cope with the abrupt death of husband/father. As the family seems to fall apart, a sudden incident gives them a chance to heal their 'broken wings'.

Seven childhood friends with a history and shared experiences from their past, meet for dinner to see together a rare lunar eclipse. This bourgeois and routine event takes a turn as they start playing a game that will change their lives: every message, call or alert they receive on their phone is exposed to the eyes of everyone. Betrayals, lies, secrets and accounts that are 20 years old rise and float to the surface and question the long-standing friendships and internal relationships in it.

Thomas, a young German baker, is having an affair with Oren, an Israeli married man who has frequent business visits in Berlin. When Oren dies in a car crash in Israel, Thomas travels to Jerusalem seeking for answers regarding his death. Under a fabricated identity, Thomas infiltrates the life of Anat, his lover’s newly widowed wife, who owns a small Café in downtown Jerusalem. Thomas starts to work for her, creating German cakes and cookies that bring her Café to life. Thomas finds himself involved in Anat’s life in a way far beyond his anticipation. To protect the truth he will stretch his lie to a point of no return.

Cracks are starting to burst in Marina's frozen life, leading towards finding refuge in dangerous places.

Through the course of several accidents and chance encounters, Hanoch and Ruben will meet and each of them will have to face a page of his personal history, a page that they both need to turn for good.

This is the true story of an Israeli civilian who was recruited into Israel's Secret Intelligence Agency to become a spy in Damascus, where he spent years infiltrating the Syrian political establishment. Israel's national hero, Eli Cohen, successfully entered the upper echelons of the Syrian government as a double-agent. The secrets he obtained became crucial in Israel's victory in the 1967 Six Day War.

Avi Nesher's new film tracks the complex relationship between a Jerusalem Graffiti artist and a mysterious modern day prophet who is imprisoned in an abandoned apartment across the Artist's window.

"Kidon" begins in the morning of the 18th of February 2010 in Tel-Aviv when the whole world wakes up discovering, on the front page of all the newspapers, pictures of the Mossad agents caught while killing Mahmoud al Mabhouh in Dubai a month earlier. It was the first time that simple security cameras of a hotel caught secret agents red-handed, what's more Israeli agents. But without doubt, the most surprised of all were the Mossad leaders who were the only ones to know for sure that the 3 men and the woman, whose faces were in all the newsrooms of the world, had nothing to do with them. From then on, a race against time is undertaken hoping to understand why everything is aiming at them.

An adaptation of a popular Israeli stage musical. Kazablan is an army veteran turned gang leader in the Israeli port of Jaffa who masks his feelings of bitterness with a lot of bravado. He's sweet on Rachel, a young woman who lives with her father and stepmother. The budding relationship scandalizes the neighbors (not to mention Rachel's parents) and infuriates Yanush, a middle-aged shoe store owner who wants Rachel for himself. (Yanush feels he's entitled to marry Rachel since they're both Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern European origins, whereas Kazablan is a Sephardic Jew from Morocco.) The neighborhood has something else to worry about besides the antics of Kazablan and his gang: the city wants to tear down their crumbling homes. The residents pool their resources to save their houses, but the money that's collected is stolen. When he's jailed for the theft, Kazablan must find a way to clear himself.

Eliran Ben-Tovim, a star soccer coach on the verge of national glory, loses everything after a violent outburst during a crucial match. Banned from professional football, he reluctantly accepts coaching a failing middle-school team in a remote northern village. There, among misfit kids and unexpected love, Eliran rediscovers his passion for the game and for life, ultimately choosing purpose and community over fame.

Two pairs of assassins are sent by a holocaust survivor's son to bring the last Nazi for a show trial in Israel.

Filmmaker Talya Lavie steps into the spotlight with a dark comedy about everyday life for a unit of young female Israeli soldiers. The human resources office at a remote desert base serves as the setting for this cast of characters, who bide their time pushing paper, battling for the top score in Minesweeper, and counting down the minutes until they can return to civilian life. Amidst their boredom and clashing personalities, issues of commitment—from friendship to love and country—are handled with humor and sharp-edged wit.

In Majdal Shams, the largest Druze village in Golan Heights on the Israeli-Syrian border, the Druze bride Mona is engaged to get married with Tallel, a television comedian that works in the Revolution Studios in Damascus, Syria. They have never met each other because of the occupation of the area by Israel since 1967; when Mona moves to Syria, she will lose her undefined nationality and will never be allowed to return home. Mona's father Hammed is a political activist pro-Syria that is on probation by the Israeli government. His older son Hatten married a Russian woman eight years ago and was banished from Majdal Shams by the religious leaders and his father. His brother Marwan is a wolf trader that lives in Italy. His sister Amal has two teenager daughters and has the intention to join the university, but her marriage with Amin is in crisis. When the family gathers for Mona's wedding, an insane bureaucracy jeopardizes the ceremony.

The film was shot entirely in a nightclub, with an adjoining contemporary art gallery, whose customers are both Israelis and Palestinians, in one of Israel’s most open cities, Haifa. A long night in a place where the most diverse people meet: Jews, Muslims, gays, heterosexuals, transvestites; and three women, who in that multifaceted microcosm, a gathering peaceful hideout, can find shelter from male bullying and arrogance.

Based on Ladislav Grossman's novel "The Bride", this drama was filmed back in 1984 in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, then the crew stopped filming, because protagonist Lisa Hartman had to promote her feature film "Where The Boys Are '84" in the States and they finally finished it on location in Wasserburg, Germany!

In Israel's Central Prison, the security officer is corrupt, supplying drugs and stirring the hatred between Jewish and Arab prisoners to his advantage. Uri, in for 12 years for armed robbery, and Issan, in for 50 years for PLO violence, command the respect of their cells. When the Arabs are framed for the murder of a Jewish prisoner and a young inmate commits suicide rather than lie about what happened, Uri and Issan form an unlikely partnership, leading the security block on a strike. Prison officials try to break it. In the background are Uri's daughter and Issan's wife, women of beauty and passion who embody the distance from inside a cell to the outside.

One night, one apartment and one mystery. Shir wakes up in the middle of the night. Her husband hasn’t come back after taking the dog out. The dog has. But where is Rami? Friends, relatives, neighbours and police come round and with each visit more marital secrets are revealed.

Rachel Strode, a young immigrant with a dark secret in her past, comes to Israel in the Fall of 1973 to volunteer in a Kibbutz and then to convert to Judaism. Soon, she realizes that the local Kibbutz members don't seem to like strangers and foreigners, and that the evening of Yom Kippur (the most important holiday for Jews), will bring danger to her and her young volunteering friends. What begins as a time of fun and the celebration of youth turns into a menacing and bloody night of terror, which will give a new meaning to Yom Kippur of 1973.

Set in mid-70's, 12-year old Dvir Avni navigates between the equality values of his home-born Kibbutz and the relationship with his undermined mother, whom the Kibbutz members will to denounce.

A documentary about the life of Tsai Chin, one of the first Chinese actresses to break into the West.

The story takes place in August 1991, when in the former USSR there was an unsuccessful attempt of a political coup led by the Soviet intelligence services and the Soviet Union collapsed. However, this political struggle is only a background for dramatic events that occurred with the main characters of the film in a Soviet government villa in Crimea, where they were spending their summer holidays. The nightmare of their relationship reflects present and future nightmares of their country.

When, in the late 1990s, Israeli student Teddy Katz exposed the massacre of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces in the village of Tantura, in May 1948, during the first Arab-Israeli war, he was initially praised for his pioneering work; but he was soon infamous and branded a traitor. Decades later, incendiary new evidence emerges that corroborates Teddy's findings.

The sequel to "Yossi and Jagger" finds character Yossi (Ohad Knoller) leading a sad existence after losing his partner Jagger on the battlefield. A chance encounter with a middle-aged woman linked to his past shakes up his otherwise staid routine and sends him on a spontaneous pilgrimage to Tel Aviv. It is on the roads of southern Israel that he reignites the fire of his former self.

The Ohaion family is mourning the death of one of their relatives. In keeping with tradition, they gather together in the home of the deceased and stay there for seven days. Forced to put up with one another day and night, the brothers and sisters soon let their bitterness and arguments override the sense of communal reverence. The atmosphere becomes unbearable and long-buried truths finally surface.

In an unprecedented and candid series of interviews, six former heads of the Shin Bet — Israel's intelligence and security agency — speak about their role in Israel's decades-long counterterrorism campaign, discussing their controversial methods and whether the ends ultimately justify the means.

Through the course of several accidents and chance encounters, Hanoch and Ruben will meet and each of them will have to face a page of his personal history, a page that they both need to turn for good.

In this Israeli comedy, a father is afraid that after having sired eight daughters, that he will never produce a son.

Charlie gets by through fleecing suckers with a three-card Monte. He passes himself off as a rich businessman. Miko is a street kid who spends his time with Charlie instead of going to school. The plot follows Charlie's attempt to conquer the heart of Gila, a rich girl whose parents try to matchmake her to an American millionaire somewhat against her will.

After the death of their mother, Thomas and his sister Mariana leave their hometown for a brighter future in the city. They become patrons of a marginal bar in Tel Aviv, Bar 51, whose regulars serve as a backdrop for Thomas’s obsessive love for his sister, and her desire to break free and make a life of her own.

A good-natured but incorrigible layabout becomes embroiled in a plot to rob the Israeli lottery, all the while indulging in his boundless zeal for mischief and romance.

Two pairs of assassins are sent by a holocaust survivor's son to bring the last Nazi for a show trial in Israel.

Sharon Yitzhaki traveled to Bolivia with a guy she barely knew. She was indicted in an attempt to smuggle 10 kilos of cocaine out of the country and sentenced to serve her time at one of the cruelest women’s prisons in the world. She quickly became a media sensation in Bolivia, had an affair with the head of La Paz’s drug cartel, established a family in prison that included a 7-year-old orphan and an amazing transgender, ran the cartel business in prison to protect her family, became addicted to cocaine and quit to save the loved ones in her life, used a loophole in the law to smuggle herself and her family to Brazil, from there back to Tel Aviv and then wrote a detailed, bestselling autobiography.

A Bedouin village in Northern Israel. When Jalila's husband marries a second woman, Jalila and her daughter's world is shattered, and the women are torn between their commitment to the patriarchal rules and being true to themselves.

A movie for and about youngsters living at Tel Aviv and about things that they experience: love, friendship, the need to grow up.

As closeted teenager, Yuval, loses his mobile phone which is then found by a stranger. When the pair meet at the park, at first the stranger asks for a reward for finding it, but it soon becomes apparent that he wants more than what the boy is prepared to give.

In the early days of World War II, two Jewish brothers lost their parents during the Nazi invasion of Belarus. The boys were imprisoned in a German hospital and found many of their peers there. They were kept in inhuman conditions - hunger, cold, lack of sleep and rest. The only thing the boys had, their treasure - was a family portrait with mom and dad. Before the fascists separated brothers, each of them got half of it.

Na'ama is seventeen. She lives in a sleepy suburbia. She is bored. With detached parents and a rebellious older sister, her life at home is a mess. It all changes when a new girl appears at school. She's introduced to a world of drugs, lesbians and sex. She's thrilled. Her life, at last, becomes exciting. Is it going to last? "Barash" is a coming of age story, planted in the heart of Israeli society, about a young woman who struggles to find her self-identity in an environment that has different ideas about sex, drugs and love.

China is the first country in the world to classify Internet addiction as a clinical disorder. Caught in the Net features a Beijing treatment center where Chinese teenagers are being "deprogrammed," and follows the story of three boys from the day they arrive at the center, to their three-month treatment period, and their long awaited return home. The film provides a microcosm of modern Chinese life and investigates one of the symptoms of the Internet age. It examines inter-generational pressures and the disregard of the human rights of minors who get caught in the net.

When Yoel hears about an imminent Iranian military attack on Tel Aviv, he knows what to do - escape with his family to a safe haven in Jerusalem. His son Assaf, who is a filmmaker and about to become a father himself, wants to give Yoel one last lead role in his movie by melting the fictional world into bittersweet reality.

After discovering that his father has lied to him for years about his estranged sister and his mother, 14-year-old Ilan runs away from home and ends up living with his sister, Dalia, who works on a cruise ship and is having an affair with a married man. While Dalia is at work, Ilan explores her down-and-out neighborhood and discovers and befriends Avram, an elderly holdout Communist living in an abandoned building with his weapons cache and marijuana-growing business, biding his time for the ultimate battle against the capitalists.

The year is 1999 and the storyline is actually a number of sub-plots all revolving around the 13-year old Clara, a girl that can predict the future and has telekinetic powers. The sub-plots include a boy in her class who has a crush on her, his family, her family and her principal that keeps talking French for some strange reason.

Dan Freilich (30), a handsome and dozy nerd, was sure that his life were all planned out for the next 50 years. pretty soon he was also supposed to get married, to his high school sweetheart. That's all you need, isn't it? Apparently not.

In this surreal comedy, a ghost monk convinces Itzik, a keychain importer living with his mother, to take revenge on those who are responsible for his pathetic situation. Surprisingly, the collaboration with the monk improves Itzic's life.

After the death of their mother, Thomas and his sister Mariana leave their hometown for a brighter future in the city. They become patrons of a marginal bar in Tel Aviv, Bar 51, whose regulars serve as a backdrop for Thomas’s obsessive love for his sister, and her desire to break free and make a life of her own.

One of the milestones of Israeli cinema. It displays the atmosphere of the late 50s in Israel from the viewpoint of young boy Alex, who is just turning 13. His mom is the classic "Polish Mother", his school friends are young hustlers dreaming of nude girls, his schoolmaster is a nervous Russian immigrant. The street speech is full of Polish, Russian, and Farsi slang, full of the small talk that had later entered everyday speech. The soundtrack consists solely from the American music of the period.

An Israeli filmmaker throws himself in the midst of two battles doomed to fail: one against the death of freedom in his country, the other against the death of his mother.

An American reporter and his girl-friend are visiting Israel to get a "sense of the people", in the process he meets many Israelis and some Arabs as well, particularly becoming friends with an Israeli Army reserve officer as well as an idealistic young man who is a pacifist.

China is the first country in the world to classify Internet addiction as a clinical disorder. Caught in the Net features a Beijing treatment center where Chinese teenagers are being "deprogrammed," and follows the story of three boys from the day they arrive at the center, to their three-month treatment period, and their long awaited return home. The film provides a microcosm of modern Chinese life and investigates one of the symptoms of the Internet age. It examines inter-generational pressures and the disregard of the human rights of minors who get caught in the net.

A confrontation between two enemies. One is a young, captured Israeli agent and the other an older Arab inspector who tries to get the agent talk by making him regain his desire to live.

Former student Raskolnikov is pushed to murder when struggling to pay the rent on his apartment. When the murder is being investigated by the police, Raskolnikov struggles between trying to hide his guilt and the pressure to confess.

The excommunication of Baruch Spinoza, the Dutch Jewish philosopher who revolutionized modern thought, is a formative, mysterious event in the understanding of his work. Director David Ofek takes us on an intercontinental journey tracing six reasons for Spinoza's excommunication. Between Amsterdam, the Hague, New York, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv, he makes some surprising discoveries, and traces the figure of a man who continues to intrigue our culture with his ideas, which remain revolutionary, spiritual, and radical to this day. This is the 17th film in The Hebrews project.

A lonely middle-aged woman divides her time between her monotonous job at the supermarket and taking care of her disabled mother and estranged family members. The mysterious murder of the head cashier at the supermarket, sends her on a journey into the depths of her repressed desire revealing her deep longing for warmth and human connection.

A musical, semi-documentary motion picture considering the making of "Shablul", a rock album by Arik Einstein and Shalom Hanoch. The film demonstrates fragments of being, a few funny sketches and musical numbers, much affected by The Beatles' flicks. "Shablul" reminds its viewers the taste of 60s, showing them the Israeli pop/rock scene of these jolly years.

Cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus relive the creation, rise and fall of their independent film company, Cannon Films. This documentary recounts their many successes and discusses their eventual downfall.

When, in the late 1990s, Israeli student Teddy Katz exposed the massacre of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces in the village of Tantura, in May 1948, during the first Arab-Israeli war, he was initially praised for his pioneering work; but he was soon infamous and branded a traitor. Decades later, incendiary new evidence emerges that corroborates Teddy's findings.

When Eden's brother tragically dies, her grief spirals into obsession after discovering his secret girlfriend.

The title is a reference to the Book of Isaiah 42:6, “I, the LORD, have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee free, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.” The film is an episodic, cinematic biography of David Ben-Gurion, from his days as a youth in Poland when he met Herzl in the town of Plonsk, through his move to Palestine/Israel, becoming leader, the days of the Independence War and the establishing of the State of Israel, signing the reparations agreement with Germany, and all the way to the making of this film – in the aftermath of the Six-Day War. Perlov’s film highlights all the key milestones in the leader’s life which it goes about doing in the tradition of the reflexive documentary, through the creator’s subjective and artistic pov. The film goes back and forth between documentary and scripted scenes, black and white and technicolour, and even archival footage colourised in bold, artificial colours.

In this Israeli comedy, a father is afraid that after having sired eight daughters, that he will never produce a son.

"Promised Land" tells the story of a group of young unwitting Estonian girls smuggled through Egypt to be auctioned off as prostitutes in Israel, and of their initiation into this trade of flesh, and finally of the accidental freeing of one girl who most fight for her freedom.

Alex Abramov is Mossad secret agent looking after some bad guys. He falls in love with young music student Thea, but can not reveal himself and sends her gifts secretly. Thea first thinks that it must be another student, G.R., who sends gifts, and bad guys, knowing about Alex's feelings towards Thea, attack G.R. by mistake.