DOCUMENTARY FILMS Archives - Israel Film Festival

TELLING NONIE | נוני עיוני

hillel — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 12:30:31 +0000

Tormented by his role in a 1950s Gaza assassination, Geizi Tsafrir, an elderly Israeli agent, seeks redemption. Reflecting on his time with Shin Bet (Israeli Secret Service) and the killing of an Egyptian lieutenant colonel, he decides to confront his past. He contacts the colonel’s daughter, Nonie Darwish, once intent on avenging her father’s death but now a prominent voice against radical Islam and a supporter of Israel. The mysterious email from Tsafrir sets Darwish on an emotional journey into her past, culminating in a meeting with him in Los Angeles. This winner of the Haifa International Film Festival’s Best Israeli Documentary explores intricate emotions, history’s complexities, and the bumpy path toward mutual understanding and forgiveness.

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CLOSING NIGHT PRESENTATION: HAGASHASH HAHIVER | הגשש החיוור

hillel — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 12:22:26 +0000

Were the “GASHASH HAHIVER” comedy trio the essence of Israeli-ness, or did they provide a convenient representation that everyone wanted to believe in? What does this so-called refined essence teach us about Israelis, and how does it stand the test of time? To thoroughly examine this complex issue, blending deep insights with humor, infused with anecdotes and archival footage.

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MONOGAMIA | מונוגמיה

hillel — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 12:13:44 +0000

Monogamia takes you on a roller-coaster journey into the world of love and intimacy within committed relationships. Follow the director’s personal quest to bring back the love that once flourished between his parents. As you watch, the inevitable question arises: Can love indeed, endure the test of time? Can the revelation of buried secrets revive the spark of long-lost intimacy? Does monogamy stop being monogamy after tasting the ‘forbidden fruit’? Amidst this captivating exploration, consider the excitement and price of open relationships.

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BETTER DAYS – THE STORY OF ZE’EV REVACH | ימים טובים: סיפורו של זאב רווח

hillel — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 12:07:02 +0000

Ze’ev Revach, a beloved comedian in Israel, became known for playing similar roles which made it hard for him to break out of that stereotype. He faced challenges balancing religious and non-religious themes as well as navigating between popular and highbrow cinema. “Better Days” tells the story of Ze’ev Revach through rare footage and interviews, revealing the passionate and tragic journey of a screen legend that many people never truly understood.

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HIS OWN WAY – THE CINEMA OF AVI NESHER | אבי נשר: מילים להחלפה

hillel — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 11:49:35 +0000

“The Monkey House” – 2024, “Portrait of Victory” – 2021, “The Other Story” – 2018, “Past Life” – 2015, “The Matchmaker” – 2010, “Turn Left at the End of the World – 2004: for the past five decades this legendary gemstone maker, Avi Nesher, has been Israel’s most prominent and influential filmmaker. Nesher’s recent films are as hugely successful as his earlier works. Many of his films have remained cult favorites of Israeli audiences, years after their initial theatrical release.

When Nesher was 24 he directed “The Troupe” – an ageless favorite that was titled “The all-time best Israeli film” by Haaretz daily. 46 years and twenty movies later, Nesher is now in front of the camera.

“All my movies are personal without being autobiographical”, he says while combining both his life and the history of Israel in his films. “His Own Way” examines the DNA of Nesher’s cinematic creations, which include musicals, dramas, and comedies, chronicling the homeland in which he started his career in his early twenties and where he continues to create at 71.

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IT HAPPENED ON OUR GROUND | האחו הקטן

hillel — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 10:54:01 +0000

A journey of three generations of women living on one farm that Wendi, the (grand)mother, inherited from her uncle, Hitler’s first foreign minister and senior SS officer. The film is a feminine personal portrait of a German aristocratic family who used their privileged position to save Jews from a concentration camp that was erected on their land. The three women are not afraid to confront the difficult past of their family in an attempt to safeguard a peaceful future.

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EXODUS 91 | מר נעים

hillel — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 10:31:30 +0000

A docu-narrative film that tells the story of Asher Naim, an Israeli diplomat caught between worlds and facing a crisis of faith in himself and his country. Asher, a North-African Jew himself, is sent to Ethiopia to negotiate the escape of 15,000 Ethiopian Jews from a country collapsing under famine and civil war. Working with his Ethiopian-Israeli colleagues who, themselves, immigrated to Israel a decade earlier, Asher and his partners begin to question if the Israeli government is serious or using the operation as part of an elaborate publicity stunt against claims that “Zionism is Racism.” With rebel forces closing in on the capital, Asher’s faith in his mission is put to the test as he navigates the treacherous world of bureaucracy and politics in Ethiopia, Israel, and the US. Exodus 91 takes viewers behind the scenes – and behind the spin – of Operation Solomon, the diplomatic and military mission to bring thousands of Ethiopian Jews to Israel in the midst of Ethiopia’s brutal civil war. The feature-length film explores challenging questions of racism, white saviour-ism, homeland, cultural identity, the politics of immigration, and the hardships of these immigrants, and those that followed them, to this day.

Monday: Nov. 18th 7:30PM

By Invitation Only

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THE CHILD WITHIN ME | פוליקר – הילד שבי

hillel — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 21:43:00 +0000

In a series of open, rare, and sweepingly intimate documented meetings, Yehuda Poliker, one of Israel’s musical giants, looks back at his life. His introspective, direct, and honest gaze inwards is full of humor and self-acceptance.

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THE THREE OF US | שלושתנו

hillel — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 21:42:53 +0000

In a society governed by tradition, a young Orthodox couple defies norms to integrate their autistic son. As they risk everything, their journey explores the delicate balance between love, faith, and self-discovery. Through their struggle, they challenge preconceived notions, embracing parenthood and searching for their place in the world.

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TABOO – AMOS GUTTMAN | טאבו: עמוס גוטמן

hillel — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 21:42:42 +0000

Guttman was a fearless anti-bourgeois aesthete and visionary of Israeli cinema. Tragically, his life was cut short in 1993, amid the harrowing backdrop of the AIDS crisis that swept through New York City during the late ’80s and early ’90s. During his brief lifetime, Amos Guttman remained a red flag for the notoriously conservative Israeli film establishment. A Romanian migrant, he never truly found his place in his new home. He was gay and made the nation’s first movies on the subject. He was an artist who wanted to make films not for the masses, but for the few, even if they were sprinkled across the globe. TABOO: AMOS GUTTMAN, offers a unique glimpse into the artist’s final days. It features his last interview, a never-before-published testament to his enduring spirit.

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