Discoveries from Israel World Cinema

Raises significant questions about man machines interfacing, ethics and technology, our body, and the mystery of our mind.

A Comic Documentary That Follows The 2001 Cannabis Cup Competition In Amsterdam, Right After 9/11.

The film accompanies Ben Bar Shavit (son of Shlomo Bar Shavit whose mother was the granddaughter of Baal Hashem) in his journey to get to know the character of Rabbi Eliashiv after his death.

The story of Yoni and Nadav - two friends with trust issues, Boom and Ghetto - two soldiers in a criminal organization, and Zomer and Teichner - a pair of corrupt policemen. The six enter a vortex of violence, lies, and drugs - due to a dramatic poker night where all the cards are revealed. The three duos lead us through the dark colors and shadows of an underground city, a crime neighborhood controlled by the Georgian Ido.

An adolescent boy in a kibbutz of the 1960s. A relationship between the boy and a young kibbutznik who serves in an elite unit. The boy dreams of resuming the train that once passed through the valley. In the background, Israeli wars disrupt life.

Tysir is 15 when released from prison on parole. The only one waiting for him is Yonatan, a social worker from the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority. Yonatan tries to help Tysir to beat the statistics where 3 out of 4 teens return to prison. The deal, which seemed attractive behind bars, becomes a rocky journey in an impossible reality.

The documentary explores the history, culture, and forced exodus of Middle Eastern and North African Jewish communities in the second half of the 20th century. Using extensive testimony of refugees from Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, and Morocco, the film weaves personal stories with dramatic archival footage of rescue missions, historic images of exodus and resettlement, and analyses by contemporary scholars to tell the story of how and why the Jewish population in the Middle East and North Africa declined from one million in 1945 to several thousand today.

An experimental Short Film shot over the course of 10 months.

The true and stirring story about an Egyptian family that spied for Israel during the most tense and violent years in Israel-Egypt relations. "The Spy Family" is about an Egyptian family that spied for Israel, was caught and paid a heavy price. While in Egypt they are infamous, in Israel they are unremembered in the military heroic ethos. The film will lay bare the espionage affair and the family's personal story.

Over half of Israel's youth takes a backpacking trip after finishing mandatory army service. Vacillating between extremes, this unique trip represents a transformation in Israeli culture.

Bushkida is a documentary film about Judeo-Spanish, also called Ladino. Ladino was the language of the Sephardic Jews, who were expelled from Spain in 1492. It is a miracle that this language is still spoken, despite the many tragedies throughout the ages. With our film we try to understand this miracle by searching for Ladino-speakers and their culture.

Peter Pan the eternal boy who doesn't want to grow up comes to life and goes on an entertaining and touching adventure in Neverland.

The agents of the Jewish General Security Services (SHABAK) are known as "Moses' Spies". This film addresses recruiting undercover agents to infiltrate and assimilate into outposts suspected of hostile subversion.

A movie about two brothers with opposite views of the world. Shalev serves in the Israeli army and has recently become very religious — Ori refuses to accept his brother as such and urges him to return to a «normal» life. On Shalev's day off, Ori takes him to the sea, where an ordinary beach vacation turns into a real drama. Director Elad Mukades arranges the events in such a way that the heroes will have nothing left but to talk — and try to hear each other.

The older brother of the main character, schoolboy Daniel, died in a car accident. The boy deeply mourns the tragedy and blames his parents for not paying enough attention to his brother's memory. Meanwhile, Daniel's classmates are preparing for the annual Day of Remembrance for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel and Victims of Terrorism: children whose families lost relatives in military conflicts will give speeches at the solemn ceremony about their loved ones. Daniel asks his teacher for permission to participate as well, even though his brother was not a war hero. The film by Yinnon Weil was a finalist at the Moscow International Children's Film Festival in the category of «Best Short Student Film» (2022).

Five minutes from the sated center of Tel Aviv, lays a huge, bold, brutal labyrinth. The city's central station has become a compound without rules. No man's land. It's hard to tell who is against whom, who controls whom: The Ghanians against the Eritreans against Sudanese against the locals against anyone black or non Jewish. A mosaic of people trying to survive while trapped in their roles in a dog eat dog world. Through the people, a portrait emerges, the face of this place that is that of the country. A mixture of languages, religions, locals and foreign refugees. A gunpowder barrel that has exploded spreading fear, racism, aggression and violence.

"I was born in one childless peasant family... A cricket is a bit of a man, a bit of an insect." A heroic tale about a trickster from the point of view of ordinary people, with their everyday reaction to otherness, to a miracle... from rejection and annoyance, to love and spiritual transformation. This is the world of family chronicles. Therefore, all the pathetic events that occur with the main character from the moment he leaves his parents' house until his unusual return remain behind the scenes, and in the meantime, we are watching the family...

Grandma Haya decides to stop eating, stop taking her medication, and begins organizing her farewell party from life. Her friends and family try to dissuade her, but Haya is adamant about her decision.

For seven decades, Yosef Dadush concealed a private diary, securely locked away in a closet at his home. Now, he grants us the precious opportunity to peer into the harrowing existence endured by the inmates of Giado - a concentration camp situated in the heart of the Libyan Desert.

A musical-documentary film follows Samuel and Isaac, South-Sudanese teenagers deported from Israel who dream about being musicians. Amir, an Israeli musician, comes to their refugee camp in Uganda to work with them. Through rhythm and sound, the film follows hardships and the high-hopes of young refugees, as they deal with Dreams in a complex reality.

01.08.2009: An armed man bursts into the “BarNoar”, an LGBTQ youth club, and opens fire. The bullet that hit me, turned my life upside down. 13 years later – I embark on a journey where I revisit old wounds, deal with the trauma and talk with my family for the first time about that evening and the secrets revealed in its wake.

As ALS ravages her body, 47-years-old Michal lost everything she was: a tour guide, a woman, a wife. With time running out, she holds onto her motherhood. She and her 7-years-old son, Naveh, discover a shared love for trails, wilderness, and the forces of nature. Michal strives to make lasting memories for Naveh, who tries on his own to understand what no one dares to explain him.

A story of friendship between two girls, each of whom deals with the difficulties of being a woman. As they attempt to correct the patriarchal reality in which they live, their friendship begins to cross boundaries between sisterhood and sexual attraction.

The Kiryat Moshe neighborhood on the outskirts of Rehovot is home to a large Jewish Ethiopian community. Nowadays a national priority construction evacuation project guarantees the residents a safe exit from the neglected and poor ghetto. Hana, a single mother who is worries about her teenage son, jumps at the opportunity for a change that will keep him away from drug dealers in the neighborhood. She joins Kevret, a young and idealistic, head of the tenants' committee, in leading the neighborhood residents. They embark on an 8-year wish for change, through the bureaucratic paths of politicians and real estate sharks.

A tribute to the classic: “Man with a movie camera”/ Dziga Vertov (USSR 1929). A naïve documentary filmmaker, heavily armed with 3 cameras and a purple draped stage, sets out to roam his beloved country on his cheap motorcycle in order to bring to the screen the ultimate truth of his people. The racist and violent reality reflected from his people’s words increasingly darken his heart and vanquish his dream, until he is forced to confront his deepest fears through encounters with characters drawn from his tormented soul.

The wild rock band Giraffes is fulfilling an old dream and going on a magical musical journey in India that crosses the subcontinent and the planned culmination is a performance in Goa in front of the thousands of Israeli travelers there. However, a series of murderous terrorist attacks in the city of Mumbai destroy the cards and send the band on a journey in search of its audience - the Israelis who fled Goa in fear of another attack. A musical, personal and inspiring portrait of the Giraffe band and the charismatic lead singer Gilad Kahana - a rock star, a gifted poet, a drinker, a hypochondriac and a compulsive workaholic - who leads the band in an attempt to change the fate of the journey. Or as a barefoot and dusty Indian asked them at the beginning of the journey: "What is karma?"

“I Just Feel… Useless”

Two lovers go on a date where they meet a friend of the guy. Soon enough, things get tangled between the three of them...

Shlomi Abargel, 19 years after a kidnapping incident in Lod, sheds a light and reveals the whole truth about what really went down.

For the first time in their life, teenagers (15 – 18 years old) were locked at home for almost 3 months. They were trying to keep the connection with the outside world by dreaming of past, present and future.

Raz, a tired reserve soldier, guards a broken army truck and Radja, a Palestinian who broke the curfew. The two repeatedly attempt to jumpstart the truck, while a friendly donkey refuses to leave them alone.

It’s the hottest day of the year and Jerusalem is being devoured by a scorching heatwave! In the city center, three flatmates live in blissful ignorance under the cool caress of their air conditioner. But when the AC breaks down, one person must venture outside to find a new battery, and discover HOW TO SURVIVE THE HEATWAVE AND STAY HUMAN.

After 80 years, a crowd of animals and people gather in a majestic scene to mourn a dog, who lost his life during the Battle of Haifa in the Al-Kafrayn village by the Occupation forces.

Orna Levi, a proud lesbian & feminist PHD student, is on top of everything while excepting everyday now for her first baby to be born. She does not except getting stuck in her empty university’s toilet with her rescuer.

Sixty-five years later, five Holocaust survivors tell their amazing story, about the secret journal VEDEM created by a group of teenage boys right beneath the noses of their Nazi captors in a concentration camp. Seattle's Music of Remembrance and the Northwest Boychoir have united to give new voice, through music, to those boys' inspiring lives and words. But first the boys in the choir must come to know the 'boys of Terezin,' and learn the price of those boys' courageous resistance to their oppressors. Poignant, warm-hearted and profound, the film chronicles a unique legacy's passage to a new generation, through the power of music.

“Powerful and profound.” (London International Student Film Festival) A cinematic love letter to the filmmaker’s grandmother who didn’t follow generational rules.

Naomi and Marwan are a couple that communicate in Hebrew. When they decide to speak solely in Arabic on Fridays, their new routine leads to miscommunication that neither language can solve.

The story of Lebanon is one of ongoing tragedy. A march of follies orchestrated by heads of state, sects, and militias. The Palestinians, French, British, Iranians, Syrians, Americans, Israelis and the Lebanese themselves, have all, at one point or another, contributed to the country's tragic history. Caught up in the chaos were the Lebanese themselves - made up of different sects, religions, and ethnicities - writing their own history in a string of political assassinations, massacres, and betrayals.

On a wild island live four women in harmony. A bra from different times, washed ashore on a stormy night, violates the balance of life on the island and causing chaos and destruction. The new object becomes the focus of a quarrel. "Carried away" is a parable of the immense power inherent in the female collective and its destructive potential.

This experimental film is an attempt to convey the hobo's thoughts as he wanders through the various spaces. Observing space is intriguing and raises questions - what is similar to what? Does the bicycle have a soul? What is the difference between nature and the city?

Iris Zaki embarks on an intimate journey with her father through the extraordinary story of her legendary grandmother, the Egyptian singer Souad Zaki. A cinematic project that spans generations and continents, unpacking the complex relationship of Jewish/Arab identity and culture.

Hila is a 28-year-old lesbian dancer. When her twin brother Tom unexpectedly dies, she is not afraid to do anything possible to meet him again. While her relationship with her brother’s grieving partner intensifies, Hila faces her demons and her repressed sexual identity.

A love-story between the iconic Gordon Pool located on the coastal shore of Tel-Aviv and the people who freguent it. For over 4 years, | tracked and recorded the musings of some of the eccentric characters, their thoughts, their feelings, their individual stories, and their obsessions, revealing how the pool and the rituals around bathing are a temple for their souls.

An unprecedented view of the Abarbanel Mental Health Center in Israel allows a film crew to document its patients' lives.Three of them present their fears and most importantly- their dreams-and for the first time, they might fulfill them.

Maya Steinberg is a secular Israeli. Her father, however, had a late religious awakening. He will not appear in her film. Instead, the young director approaches his faith and her lack of understanding for it through a visit to the gravesite of rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Galilee, where she spends a few weeks, observing believers, Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox, and wondering: Is there a place here for women? And can there be a place for queer women?

An intimate couple’s portrait, Empty Handed follows Moriya and Ophir before, during and after they struggle to make the hardest decision in their life regarding their unborn child.

When Nir finds out that a lady committed suicide due to the insurance fraud he’s involved in, he tries to convince his partner in crime to end the scam. Soon he realizes that shutting down the business will have severe consequences.

The adorable and epic adventures of a tiny astronaut.

This beat must be on the spectrum.

Family Picture is a nostalgic memory of a family, and a journey of a daughter and a mother, trying to face their past. The director becomes obsessed with the family footage and through some old tapes she tries to rebuild her family's story.

After several months of not seeing his son, Eran decides to visit him at his ex-wife's house for the first time, knowing he will have to face her new partner. Will Eran be able to take back his place within the new family?