Discoveries from Israel World Cinema

An Israeli-Lithuanian scientist is asked by a Russian oligarch to develop software that will match people around the world.

A coming-of-age saga set against the tense backdrop of Arab-Israeli politics. Mendy is a young Rabbinical student whose mind is too full of curiosity about the world that exists outside the restrictions of Orthodox Judaism. Recognizing his distraction, Mendy's teacher suggests that he visit a prostitute to get it out of his system. But on a fateful night, when he meets Sacha, a captivating Russian expatriate, who works in a Tel Aviv bordello, his appetite for outside experience only grows stronger.

Katz and Carasso are owners of rival insurance companies, who strongly loathe each other. They seek to sell insurance to the wealthy womanizer Israel Israeli, and use all available means for this purpose: Katz's elder daughter Naomi uses her feminine charms on Israeli, while Carasso's elder son Osi does the same with his actress friend Daniela. Despite the rivalry, Naomi and Osi grow fond of each other. Meanwhile, Katz's beatnik daughter Tiki meets Eliyahu, Carasso's younger son, and they start an affair. The fathers are very displeased from the growing romance between the two couples, and they become even more irritated to find out that they are competing on the same potential client.

Asia is the single mother of 17-year-old Vika. Vika's deteriorating health urges Asia to finally find her voice as a mother and to embrace and cherish their time together.

A love story between two people from different cultures and the relatives who manage to separate them until the lovers again find each other.

A slapstick comedy lampooning bureaucracy and the madness of everyday life in Israel centers on an escaped lunatic who digs up the streets of Tel-Aviv with a drill.

The Gulf War, January 1991. Talila Katz, a yuppie Tel Avivian creative director at an ad agency falls in love with clumsy food engineer Noah Ne'eman. The war, with its Scud missiles bombarding Israel and disrupting everyday life, is the backdrop for this pair's love story...

The touching story of Victor, who lives with his mother in the really bad part of town and runs an illegal TV cable station. One day he sees the beautiful Michaela and falls madly in love with her. So desperate to make her love him back he finally snaps, and sits in the rain, all night, waiting for her. Placed in a mental institution for his own sake he meets several colorful characters, such as the mysterious Levanah with whom he becomes sexually involved. Finally, one day, Michaela comes to visit him...

In ha-Argazim, a neighborhood that time forgot, the one-year anniversary of Morris Mandabon's death is approaching, and his youngest son, Nissim has had a dream in which his father orders him to re-open the old neighborhood movie theater, thus breaking the vow that Morris had made years before never to screen movies again. Nissim and his brother George, together with Aharon Gabardine, who was the projectionist back in the old days, are determined to fulfill Morris' request. The same day Nissim has his dream, Avram Mandabon, Morris' brother, returns for his brother's memorial after a 25-year absence. His reappearance causes old family feuds to resurface.

Shlomi, a young Israeli soldier, flees back to his girlfriend in Tel Aviv only to discover that the military elite is convinced he was kidnapped in the fog of war.

Michal is 32 years old. She became religious 12 years ago, and only now is she getting married. A month before the wedding, while checking out the catering for the event, the groom has a change of heart and the wedding is called off. Michal feels she’s unable to go back to ordinary life, to the usual course of matchmaking. She feels this is the moment to change something very basic in her personality. A simple belief that God is good and sweet; that He wants to give and is only waiting for her to wish it. Michal goes on a month-long journey lasting up to the planned wedding day: “I have the venue, the dress, the apartment; God can easily come up with my groom.”

This mythic love story set in a timeless, lavishly colorful and mystical Jerusalem incorporates hard rock, striking set design, computer-generated imagery and modern-day tensions between the secular and the Orthodox worlds. Hanan, a handsome young traveler - who has pierced ears and wears grungy flannel shirts - falls in love with Lea, the beautiful daughter of a leader in the religious community. Unbeknownst to the couple, a deal was struck, years earlier, in which they were promised to each other by their fathers. When Hanan consults with a master of Kabbala, a set of mysteriously forbidden eleventh-century texts unleashes untold powers, merging the erotic with the divine and affirming love's infinite potential to transcend all obstacles. The lovers are played by Yehezkel Lazarov (Waltz with Bashir) and Ayelet Z'urer (Angels & Demons; Vantage Point). (from sfjff.org)

Liran and Tali, a couple in their thirties who dream of having a child together, are one day told that they will have to undergo fertility treatments. What seems simple at first turns out to be very complex.

An avowed anarchist and Stern Gang hitman is sent to Jerusalem to assassinate a senior British officer creating much tension within the already troubled cell and almost brings its collapse, as the British operatives are closing in.

What had initially started out as a Jewish revolt against the Roman occupation, quickly turned into a fierce civil war. The combination of religious messianic zeal and the friction between social classes proved disastrous and resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple.

The story of three men living in Tel Aviv. They set off to attend a funeral. Unfortunately, they cannot find the right cemetery. Later the story shifts to their complex love lives.

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.

In a small agricultural village in northern Israel, on the day of the middle-sister's wedding, Maya, the youngest of the three sisters, arrives to the celebration with Alon, a sharp Israeli businessman living in London. Alon's enchantment with the close-knit family, the simplicity of village life and serene landscape, opens his heart to an almost unattainable closeness with Tamar, the oldest sister, and re-acquaintance with his alienated father.

Meir (Sasson Gabay of The Band’s Visit and Shtisel) and Tova (Rita Shukrun) are a long-married couple living in an upscale high-rise in Tel Aviv. Itzik (Lior Ashkenazi) is their new neighbor, a worldly modeling agent and bachelor. The couple attend Itzik’s karaoke parties and soon become obsessed with him, competing with each other, and other residents of the building, for his attention.

Ya'ara, a blind PhD candidate in Mathematics at Princeton University, hears of her cousin Talia's suicide. Ya'ara rushes back to Israel. They were best of friends and twin spirits. Talia saw for both of them, and was always the one who believed and led Ya'ara to believe, that in spite of her blindness, Ya'ara could see everything. Ya'ara joins Talia's family for the traditional 7-day mourning period and there, she discovers the secrets of Talia's life and embarks on an investigation trying to discover the reason that led Talia to commit suicide.

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.

Haim-Aaron is a bright, ultra-orthodox religious scholar living in Jerusalem. His talents and devotion are envied by all. One evening, following a self-imposed fast, Haim-Aaron collapses and loses consciousness. The paramedics announce his death, but his father takes over resuscitation efforts and, beyond all expectations, Haim-Aaron comes back to life. After the accident, try as he might, Haim-Aaron remains apathetic to his studies. He feels overwhelmed by a sudden awakening of his body and suspects this is God testing him. He wonders if he should stray from the prescribed path and find a way to rekindle his faith... The title means "Rectify" in Hebrew; nevertheless the movie is called Tikkun in the English-speaking world.

A middle-aged Orthodox Jew, Aaron, living and working in Jerusalem with his wife and children, meets a homeless 19-year-old student. Aaron offers to give Ezri work as his assistant at his family's butcher shop. The two men grow close and their attraction becomes sexual. Aaron must now confront his own sexuality, his feelings for Ezri, and his obligations to his family and faith.

In Jerusalem's orthodox neighborhoods, it's Succoth, seven days celebrating life's essentials in a sukkah, a temporary shack of both deprivation and hospitality. A devout couple, Moshe and Mali, married nearly five years and childless, are broke and praying for a miracle...

A drama focused on Israeli–Palestinian relationships during the intifada.

Azulai is a policeman in Jaffa, whose incompetence is only matched by his soft-heartedness. His superiors want to send him to early retirement, but he would like to stay on the force, and the criminals of Jaffa don't want to see him leave either...

Lara is Palestinian and lives in London. She has everything she wants in her life: a husband, a son and a beautiful house in one of the best areas of the city. Nevertheless, her everyday life appears cold and grey, only brightened up by surreptitious sips of vodka. But one day, Inam, a sensual, resolute girl, knocks on her door. Lara seems to be transported back to her adolescence when she and Inam were close friends, and studied together in Ramallah. In Lara's astonished eyes we see a mixture of fear and desire towards the woman whom she had lost sight of. A deceptive tangle of memories which a trauma, a love affair and an experience with two Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem an re-surface. From a gripping, well structured emotional thriller that traces back their memories through recurrent flashbacks that take us to the West Bank in 1994, during the Intifada.

Yitzhak runs the turkey farm his father built with his own two hands after they emigrated from Iran to Israel. When his son Moti turns thirteen, Yitzhak teaches him the trade, hoping that he will continue the proud family tradition. But Moti doesn't like working in the turkey barn; his passion is fixing up junkyard cars and bringing them back to life. Moti's mother Sarah tries to reconcile between the two, while his grandfather pushes Yitzhak to take a firm hand with his son. Yitzhak takes Moti's refusal to work in the turkey barn as a personal rejection. Though he loves his son dearly, he makes it his mission to impose the family farm on Moti. The arrival of Darius, the uncle from America, sets off a chain of events that will undermine the familial harmony. Soon enough Yitzhak will learn that his son is just as stubborn as he is. The conflict is inevitable.

A once successful novelist tries to revive his fading career by launching a highly inventive scam. He recruits a reckless actress and trains her to assume the somber identity of a lit Masters student. Their lives will alter forever.

After the legendary Festigal director Hanoch Rozen is offered the opportunity to direct the Milan Music Awards, the veteran Festigal actress Eliana Tidhar is burdened to assume his role. However, she is unable to present an original story to the cranky CEO, as all of her concepts are too similar to previous shows. Trying to get inspiration, Eliana and the rest of the cast accidentally get teleported into the Kingdom of Fantasia from Festigal 2006. They discover many things have changed over the years, including that a new Ice Queen has risen, forcing her daughter to marry a buffoon prince. Meanwhile, Zina (from Anachnu BaMapa) is plotting to assume the new director position and harm the show, as revenge for not getting accepted as a Festigal child for the 2006 show.

Dana, who named her rapist online, is interrogated by a policewoman who must determine whether Dana is a slanderer or a survivor. Once the station chief joins them, Dana's fate will be sealed in the interrogation room.

Three stories about three women: one is trying to find the right guy; one is trying to get a divorce from her runaway husband so she takes hostages; one turns Tel Aviv upside down in order to save a kitten trapped in a storm drain.

"Kemo gedolim" is a collection of well known Israeli, children songs sang by Ariḳ Ainshṭain and others. In between the songs embedded short skits starring Moni Moshonov and Tsevi Shisel , who embody two porters hauling a giant crate up a winding staircase and unexpectedly run into Ariḳ, a group of kids, jugglers, clowns and storytellers emerging from the crate. The two, try to do their job faithfully but occasionally they also try to sing, dance and play, which creates a variety of funny moments.

In 1932, Albert Einstein was invited by the League of Nations to address a letter on any subject to any person. He chose to correspond with Sigmund Freud about avoiding war. To this day, the correspondence about war of two great thinkers of all time proves to be more relevant than ever. Inspired by this correspondence between Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud almost a century ago, the film Why War traces the roots of war, and embarks on a search for an explanation of the savagery of wars that inhabit our world.

When Thomas Overby mistakenly believes Aya is his assigned driver, she spontaneously decides to go along with the charade and drives him to Jerusalem. A stiff and guarded pianist, Overby is intrigued by the impulsive though melancholy Aya. As they slowly begin to connect, the film takes us on a journey we hope will never end.

Ze'evik and Srool are hiding in Tiberias from the angry customer to whom they owe money.

Jacquo, a shady owner of a Las Vegas nightclub in Lower Haifa, also runs a brothel and gambling den. His business thrives with an entourage of women, but his heart belongs to Galia, his business partner and top call girl. One night, Galia is severely injured in a fight with another worker. Her middle-class sister Yael rushes to her side, adding to the drama.

Rina can't look into the eyes of her son, Dean, who's under house arrest at her home. Tomorrow his trial begins, and Rina doesn't know if she can handle an extension of the house arrest. When her doubts regarding his innocence are undermined by increasing hostility from her neighbors, Rina is required to be a supporting mother despite his (alleged) acts. Today, she will have to look in his eyes and hear the truth.

In the 1980s, an Israeli refugee, deemed a traitor, coaches West Germany's basketball team.

A comedy about changes in the life of Israeli family after they get a cable TV with a lot of channels.

Basically, Kafka’s Metamorphosis is unfilmable. After all, the author didn’t want visual representations to appear of the insect Gregor Samsa turned into; readers should visualise that themselves.

This wacky comedy takes place in the weeks leading up to the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II. With the Allies uncertain as to what the Germans have in store for them after the invasion, it's up to one Jewish paratrooper to sneak into Germany's top-secret army base and steal the plans!

A tragic love story between a young Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz and SS officer.

Author David Grossman's first novel was adapted for television, bringing to life the story of a boy caught up in an old conflict between two elderly men.

Since his daughter's death, Moshe lives alone rejecting his wife whom he blames for this tragedy. In order to get out of his confinement, he accepts a job from the Jerusalem post office, unaware that it is for a very special division: The Department of Letters to God. Through the letters sent by people from all over the world, Moshe will face humanity in its most secret privacy, sometimes most fanciful wishes. He doesn't believe in anything anymore but a series of strange events will transform his bitterness and lead him to discover how forgiveness can reconcile him with his wife and bring him peace again.

Four men whose combined intellect does not reach into the triple digits decide to steal a safe full of foreign currency - not from a local bank, but from the police station.

The prisoner sentence to a very long time gets visitation home in order to meet his wife. The only problem is that he got a company - one of the prison guards.

Intense drama based on the 1984 hijacking of bus line 300, in which 41 passengers and a bus driver were attacked and held captive by terrorists in Israel.

A rumor spreads through a small desert town that a girl has been raped. A respected veteran tries to stop the girl's cousin, a soldier in vacation, from taking the law into his own hands.

Two rebellious young women - one fleeing the chaos of secular hedonism for the disciplined comforts of faith; the other desperate to transcend her oppressive religious upbringing for sexual and spiritual freedom - cross paths unexpectedly in Jerusalem, to startling consequences.

Aliza mizrahi, the building cleaner, solves a murder where the police fails

Azit, the intelligent German Shepherd dog of Paratrooper Lieutenant Uri's girlfriend Tammy, rescues the wife of the neighborhood butcher from a pickpocket. After that, Azit is sent to a military training base where she is certified for parachute missions, detection, and surveillance.

An Israeli soldier is taken hostage by a small PLO squad in Lebanon. The soldier planned to go on vacation and to fly to the world final soccer cup, he and his capturers share the love to soccer and toward the (not so happy) end a relationship is made.

A successful lawyer, who has traumatic memories from his army service, is testifying against his best friend from his unit. His wife, a social-worker, is trying to save a poor family named Siton. The couple's life collapses when the wife get raped by a gang.

Hahamishia Hakamerit (Hebrew: החמישייה הקאמרית, The Kameri Quintet‎‎) was a weekly Israeli satirical sketch comedy television program created by Asaf Tzipor, who was also the main writer of the show, and Eitan Tzur, who directed the entire run of the show. Hahamishia Hakamerit was broadcast on Israeli Channel 2 and Channel 1 between the years 1993-1997. Later on, reruns of the show were broadcast on the cable channel Bip (channel). The show's often surreal skits were characterized by a satirical point of view which did not spare the audience sensitive subjects such as politics, national security, the Holocaust and sex.