Jerusalem Film Festival unveils Israeli lineup of premieres, documentaries and shorts

The Jerusalem Film Festival has announced its full Israeli program for its 43rd edition, set for July 9 to 19. The lineup includes 6 feature films in the Hagjaj competition, 5 documentaries in the Diamond competition, one additional documentary screening, 16 short films, and 9 works in the video art and experimental cinema section.

This year’s selections focus heavily on bereavement, war, identity, Jewish-Arab relations, the haredi world, parenting and family. Several titles have already screened at major international festivals, while others will premiere in Jerusalem, including Hadas Ben Aroya’s “How to Feel,” a Berlin-set romance between an Israeli dancer and a German poet, starring Gal Zusmanovich and Maximilian Mundt, and David Opek and Nehad Bishara’s “Amal,” about a mother trying to save her son in an Arab village caught in violence and blood feud.

Other Hagjaj contenders include “The Comedian,” by Gidi Dar and Shuli Rand, about a legendary Jerusalem performer whose alcoholism destroyed his life and who tries once more to return to the stage, with Tal Friedman, Tzofit Grant, Eilon Gold and Eli Gornstein. The competition also features Assaf Machnes’ debut “Where To,” about a Palestinian Uber driver in Berlin who forms an unexpected bond with a lost young Israeli, plus “Heart of Gold” by Efrat Korm and “What Will Be” by Ruti Pri Bar.

The documentary competition reflects recent Israeli reality through “Good Morning, Gaza,” following a reserve tank driver who records an improvised podcast from the fighting, and “Find Me, Okay?”, about Eden Yerushalmi’s mother and sisters trying to bring her back from Hamas captivity and then coping without her. Also screening are “Hayei Sarah,” about a young woman who left the haredi community and becomes unexpectedly pregnant, “269,” on an animal-rights protest movement, and “I Am New,” about the rehabilitation of a child badly injured in a car crash.

Outside the competitions, David Fisher’s world-premiere documentary “The Tuxedoed Survivor, A Journey in Search of Elie Wiesel” examines the Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s legacy and the cost of bearing witness to the Holocaust. The festival will also screen restored copies of Uri Barbash’s 1984 Oscar-nominated “Behind Bars” and the shorts “Ravens” and “Big Girl.” The short-film winner will be eligible to enter the Oscar race, and the experimental section will present nine new works dealing with AI, war, urban identity and personal memory.