Discoveries from Israel World Cinema

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.

During a one day trip to the Dead Sea, a mother and daughter’s complex relationship is put to the test when a secret is revealed.

It was supposed to be just another ordinary evening for the couple who had a cute baby not long ago. The father is just coming from work, the mother will get up to heat the food but most importantly - do not wake up the baby.

In Fluorescent, Avner Pinchover shoots a tube lamp from a cannon against a wall, capturing the resulting shimmer of shards – at 3000 frames per second.

Avram, an Hassadic hippie; Hassan, an Arab inventor; and Tex, a nonchalant Jew, with so different backgrounds and characters, share a liberal view about sexuality. In a world abiding by the strict moral derived from the Dybbuk (sacred book), the three men will go through a number of tribulations concerning marriage.

A story of a young girl, struggling with the turmoils of a drug addiction, documented by her cousin, who tries to intervene and to get her the help she needs.

Oren Levi is struggling to find his place in the world. Born in Guatemala and adopted by an Israeli couple as a baby, Oren had a troublesome childhood despite all the love and support of his family. Misdiagnosed with autism and mental illness, put into a psychiatric ward after a suicide attempt, he found it even harder to connect with the world that labelled him as “not normal” in many different ways. One day, armed with a simple video camera, Oren embarks on a journey to meet his biological parents and things begin to change. Tomer Heymann’s film tells a compelling story of a young man coming-of-age and discovering his true self among different landscapes, cultures and languages.

An old Kibbutz isolated in the Hills of Galilee in Israel find itself immersed in deep debt and threatened by lawsuits from bankers and creditors to the point of bankruptcy. On the evening prior to the arrival of the bailiffs, the great exodus begins. Men, women and children abandon their homes, taking with them all their possessions. The sun rises over an abandoned and desolate kibbutz. No living soul can be seen. Twelve senior citizens awake in the kibbutz old people's home to discover they have been deserted and left to fend for themselves. The group initially sink into deep depression, but later begin to organize an effective communal unit. They begin to rebuild the kibbutz.

With Purim coming, Holocaust survivor Anny Juneck prepares her newest costume. At 94, with three consecutive costume contest awards under her belt, Anny creates a new ensemble to debut for her retirement home's competition.

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.

The deceptive and surprising story behind the shocking headlines about the Jerusalem pedophile network. Have more than 100 ultra-Orthodox children been sexually abused? Or was there a witch hunt here that ended in murder?

Dafna is a drummer with lots of love to give, but no one to give it to. The guitar sounds from her new neighbor will lead to a chance.

Dara Nevo, a young and dedicated soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)'s elite intelligence unit, races against the clock to find an Israeli soldier captured in Gaza before her father's killer is released in a prisoner exchange.

An intimate portrait following the mysterious life of Tamar Golan, who stood at the center of many of Israel’s foreign relations successes and operated behind the scenes of diplomacy. Yet her name remained absent from official historical records. Until now.

Karni feels detached. Detached from the world, detached from her country, detached from her language and even her own body. That is, until she meets Jessica, who happens to be on a much needed break from her dreamlike American life.

An English-speaking advertisement film produced by the Information Center (Hasbara) in cooperation with the Israel Government Tourist Corporation, intended to promote international tourism to Israel’s coasts and four seas: the Mediterranean Sea, the Sea of Galilee, the Dead Sea and the Red Sea. The film presents to potential tourists the options for a beach and sea vacation in Israel, whether in the coastal cities along the Mediterranean such as Nahariya, Acre and Tel Aviv where one can fish, swim or sail, a visit to Tiberias to the shores of the Sea of Galilee where water skiing developed in recent years, and a vacation in the Dead Sea. Upon visiting the southern city of Eilat with its shores along the Red Sea, one can experience the beauty of diving, as depicted in the underwater photography of the coral reefs in Eilat.

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

The whole world was enthusiastic about Esther, but the Germans were hypnotized. Esther and Abi Ofarim appeared to them not only as representatives of a musical internationalism… but above all as messengers of Israel and a new generation that might find ways of reconciliation.

A short documentary, produced by the Israeli Film Service about the laying of the Trans Israel Pipeline. The film was produced under the auspices of the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company and TAHAL. After 18 months of work, one of the most important engineering projects in the history of Israel comes to a close: the laying of a 254 kilometer long pipeline between the Port of Eilat and the oil port in Ashkelon. The purpose: creating a landbridge to transport oil from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean – independently of the Suez Canal. This film follows the complex undertaking, which took place both in the desert and at sea.

In a regular game of Monopoly, a boy named Malachi discovers a magical card with the power to turn any situation in favor of whoever holds it! Malachi seizes the opportunity, steals the card, and immediately sets out to cash in on it and become famous. He plays a money game of Sleeping Queens, where the winner takes the cash, with a thug named Lidor and his sidekick Yogev. But soon, Lidor and Yogev realize their business is finished without that card - and they’ll have to pull off a heist to steal it for themselves!

The film opens in a living room where a bunch of strung out-looking intellectuals are sat with the production crew. They all seem to be listening to a man speaking enthusiastically, albeit inaudibly. At this juncture, the film pivots to an extended montage, to the soundtrack of psychedelic music, featuring the works of artist Michail Grobman.

Nava, Miki, and Ilan live together while running Tmuna Theater. The film portrays an alternative family that built an alternative theater, navigating between institutional recognition and an ongoing struggle for survival.

Yoni Kaplan, a young actor at the beginning of his career, receives a strange job: to read a eulogy at the funeral of Pini Gurevich, a man who wrote his own eulogy before his death. Yoni arrives late, after all the other speeches have already been given and just before the funeral is about to end. He quickly introduces himself, approaches the podium, and begins reading. The eulogy is written with a cynical sense of humor that reflects Pini’s strong personality. As Yoni continues reading, more details about Pini’s intriguing life are revealed. It becomes clear that Pini wrote the eulogy in order to reveal a secret to his family and friends before leaving the world. While reading, Yoni suddenly notices his mother among the mourners. She is shocked to see her son standing at the podium and tries to hide in the crowd, but it is too late. By the end of the eulogy, Pini’s long-hidden secret is revealed, astonishing everyone present.

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

The passengers of an airplane wrecked in the Negev desert are rescued and brought to a budding Zionist community (The film was shot at kibbutz Revivim, and its plot corresponds with the history of the kibbutz). Some are in search of rest, the others eager to give a hand and work. Eventually all join the shoveling and building. That night, a group of new immigrants, among them Holocaust survivors, arrive to join the mixed group. Within a while, the war arrives. Yoshke, the community's most dedicated member, encourages his brethren to stay and fight, citing the community’s slogan: “Ein Breira” – “There is no choice”. When supplies are dropped almost within enemy lines, Yoshke ventures out to retrieve them. He is wounded, and dies upon completing his mission. The film concludes with words from Yoshke’s diary, bearing encouragement for new immigrants to Israel.

Duvale G's stand-up show in the basement of the industrial area in Netanya, gets out of control and takes a creepy turn. In front of the audience, where two childhood friends are also sitting, he conducts a poignant soul-searching. The demon train moves quickly between black humor and venomous satire, between loves and betrayals, longings and regrets. In stand-up, as in life - everything is possible and on this evening, which is Duvale's birthday and also probably his last show, he has nothing to lose.

It's been a few hours since Shaked and Perry, a young gay couple, got stuck in the middle of nowhere on their way back from a secret romantic vacation. When Perry's mother decides to get ahead of the tow and pick them up herself, their secret is about to be revealed and the gaps between them reach a climax.

Udi gets lost in the woods. At the worst time, he gets a visit from his old friend, Ron, who died next to him during his military service. Udi blames him for his mental state, but Ron thinks otherwise. Will Udi have the strength to move on?

Nineteen-year-old Tzalah is faced with an unwanted pregnancy, which prompts her to re-examine her co-dependent relationship with her mother, Bella.

The film deals with the issue of foreign workers in Israel and describes it in an original and comic way by presenting the behavior of a backward basketball team from the Arava - Hapoel Tzuf, whose players are refugees from Africa.

The Old City of Jerusalem, the land on which King Solomon, Jesus, Saladin Titus, and many others walked, continues to attract believers and visitors from all over the world. Within the ancient city walls “Platoon C”, a special border police unit, exclusively operates to secure the tensed area. The platoon itself consists of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim soldiers, who are torn between their inner faith and their intuitive training as cops, a role that requires neutralization of emotion.

A 32-year-old woman from an Israeli Sephardic community is childless but under constant pressure from her relatives demanding offsprings. She and her grandmother accidentally find themselves at the circumcision of a little child, and there someone tells her about a tradition quite strange to the outsiders: if a woman who cannot get pregnant eats the foreskin of a baby, life will take a turn for the better. Israeli director Shirley Sasson-Ezer shows intergenerational relationships that are full of love and are devoid of aggression and yet are still complicated by the insurmountable obstacles of differences in worldviews.

Based on the novel "The Story of Hirbet Hizah" by S. Izhar (S.Yizhar).

Yotam came back from the army. He met his dad. He met his mom. He took his girlfriend for a ride. Yotam came back home, but something went wrong on the way. Gripping drama where silence shouts louder than words.

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.

At the height of the second Intifada, Ruty witnesses a suicide attack that pushes her to the brink. Unwilling to live in a constant state of anxiety, she decides to protect her husband, teenaged daughter and soldier son by barricading their home while they sleep. She plans to keep them there “until there is peace”. Disconnected from the outside world, the family is forced to communicate with each other, and tensions brewing over the years begin to surface. Director Aner Preminger offers a keenly-observed family drama that resonates beyond Israel’s political context.

At the end of his 20’s, disturbed by the feeling of fleeting time, Asaf woke up on The morning of Purim, after dreaming of Galit Kobremintzki from elementary school. Him and Nadav go to a costume party where they surprisingly run into Galit. Apparently she has been dreaming as well. Will their dreams ever meet?

A huge musical for children and the whole family based on the beloved book by Robert Louis Stevenson. A young boy discovers a treasure map and goes on the adventure of his life!

Dan Gilman's traumatic childhood destined him for musical fame, yet the crescendo of his destiny reaches far beyond any stage.

A stoner teenager before army recruitment and his retired military career father are forced to stay alone at home for the first time when the mother goes on vacation. The tension between them leads to an explosion - But not the kind that they expected.

The songs, except 'six' and'nmlim, are well-known songs, all new arrangements written especially for the album, which had already appeared when the previous albums, especially the album 'Another Side' is also dedicated to children's songs. When surprising and choose to add to the album the song "My Second Childhood, one of the older songs and created complex. This song, and the entirety of songs like 'dog' or 'Maybe it's insulting, when appearances of adults indicate that when not perceive their children's work a separate genre of his work for adults. Indeed, even those who have already reached the age of six and six times more can enjoy without fear of diversity and fascinating album, containing new arrangements of familiar songs and favorite of Matthew.

"Ten Days in October" is a suspenseful documentary feature film describing, hour after hour, the unfolding of the "October events" in 2000, the worst civilian riots ever to occur in Israel, which forever altered the relations between Israeli Arabs and the State. The film is made up entirely of news clips, footage shot by protesters, and never-before-seen police footage. Together, in detailed chronological order, they describe events as they occurred in many locations around Israel that included Arab and then Jewish riots. These dramatic events left 14 people dead and hundreds injured as a result of Israeli police gunfire.

several parallel plotlines set on the eve of the Six-Day War. The stories play out concurrently as a way of conveying the reality of life in Israel, where the national and political are forever invading the individual’s space.

The story of the bohemian holiday village established by Rafi Nelson on the Sinai border, caught in a border conflict between Israel and Egypt. Nelson, a colorful figure, goes to defend his land. An absurd look at the conflict in the Middle East through one square kilometer of passions.

After Rona cut contact with her family in Israel and moved to Japan, a surprising phone call from her father, informing her that her sister had been killed in an accident, changes her world. The film follows the most difficult 24 hours of her life, during which she tries to continue her daily routine as a member of a family for rent. As she denies her sister's death she begins to be a stranger that is trapped in her previous world.

After more than 50 years, director Itzhak Fuchs looks back on his time at Gar’in Gilboa, a religious Nahal group he was part of during his military service after the Six-Day-War. As they neared the age of 70, members of the group started a WhatsApp group and got back in touch. The communication in the group revealed new and unfamiliar perspectives. In the wake of this discovery, Fuchs set out to explore his past, and the changes and radicalization that have taken place within Religious Zionism.

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

An intimate portrait of late director, George Obadiah, made when Tal was a student at Tel Aviv University’s Department of Film and Television Studies. In the film, the immensely popular Obadiah who was loved by audiences and loathed by critics, sits down with Tal for an on-camera conversation, just two years before his death. Elderly, poorly, and frustrated that he is no longer making films, Obadiah opens up about his love of filmmaking and the principles that have steered him throughout his professional career.

For the first time in Israel, a group of Arab and Jewish parents decide to establish a conjoint bi-national, bi-lingual school inside an Arab village. The film follows the school's first year and portrays through the personal stories of its characters, how complicated and fragile is the attempt to create an environment of co-existence against the backdrop of the complicated reality around. - Perla Minon

Ibrahim was born in a small village in Lebanon and was destined to follow in his father's footsteps as a farmer and shepherd, but fate had something else in store. Through coincidence and choice, he became one of Israel's leading spies.

The Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, has been almost completely sealed off to the media. Now, for the first time, dozens of its former operatives have agreed to be interviewed. These rare interviews bring to light personal and political dilemmas and challenges, and form an account of the top-secret operations that have shaped Israel’s past and may yet shape its future.

The story of various journeys through the West Bank and Gaza Strip occupied territories during the months leading up to Israel's invasion of Lebanon.

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.

A teenager lives under the shadow of his controlling mother in peripheral Israel. The story takes place in the limited space of the house, where the sensitive and introvert son takes care of his mother and her needs. Beneath their day to day survival, the film explores questions of marginality and poverty in a society searching for its identity.

A young actress at the beginning of her career gets the opportunity of a lifetime and goes to Hollywood, but very quickly discovers that not all that glitters is gold. When she is forced to understand the deep complexity of being a Jew in the Hollywood film industry, she embarks on a brave war against anti-Semitism, in the name of Zionism and for the glory of the State of Israel.