Jerusalem Film Festival unveils its Israeli lineup for July 2026

The Jerusalem International Film Festival has revealed the Israeli titles that will screen at its 43rd edition, which runs July 9 to 19. The festival opens with a gala outdoor screening of "Independence" by Moshe Rosenthal at Sultan's Pool, after announcing the opening film last week.

In the Israeli narrative competition, the lineup includes "How to Feel" by Hadass Ben Aroya, about a dancer and a German poet in Berlin; "Amal" by David Ofek and Nehad Bshara, about a mother trying to save her son during a clan war; "The Jester" by Gidi Dar, starring and written by Shuli Rand, who appears on screen for the first time alongside his wife Tzofit Grant; "Luwan" by first-time filmmaker Asaf Makhnes, about a Palestinian Uber driver in Berlin who meets an Israeli passenger; "A Heart of Gold" by Efrat Korem, with Hane Lamsam as a bus ticket inspector who finds an abandoned baby; and "What Is Yet to Come" by Ruti Peri-Bar, about a woman fleeing to Eilat to start over.

The documentary competition will feature "269," by Keren Yehezkeli-Goldstein and Noam Stolerman, about a love story that grows out of an animal-rights protest in Tel Aviv; "I'm New," about Lior Miller and his wife Galit helping their son recover from a severe car accident, directed by Miller's ex-wife Yael Abecassis; "Good Morning Gaza," by Hanan Brands and Matan Skopsky, about a makeshift podcast for soldiers created by a reserve tank driver; "Hayei Sarah," by Shir Khuri-Abo, about a formerly ultra-Orthodox woman facing an unplanned pregnancy; and "Find Me, Okay?", which follows two years in the lives of the mother and sisters of Eden Yerushalmi, who was murdered in Hamas captivity.

The festival will also host the premiere of David Fisher's documentary "The Man in the Tuxedo: A Journey After Elie Wiesel," about the Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and will screen restored prints of "Behind Bars" by Uri Barbash, "Ravens" by Ayelet Menahemi, and "Big Girl" by Nirit Yaron. The short-film competition will include works featuring Noa Koler, Talia Bertfeld, Ido Katzir, Yael Abecassis, Yuval Segal, Shay Lee Atary, Lena Friefeld, Omer Kuli, Raymonde Amsalem, Susana Papian, and Dar Zuzovsky.