Abandoned during the 1948 war by its owner, a Palestinian doctor, a house in West-Jerusalem is requisitioned by the Israeli government as “vacant”; rented to Jewish Algerian immigrants in 1956; purchased by a university professor who undertakes its transformation…
To Each His Own Cinema is a collection of short films by various directors, each providing their unique perspective and love for the art of cinema. The film pays homage to the magic and impact of movies while exploring different themes and styles.
Movie houses in 1930s Poland and present-day Israel are attacked.
11'09''01 September 11 is an anthology film that depicts various stories related to the events and aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The film explores different perspectives and themes like war on terror, elderly people affected by the attacks, Chilean coup d'état in 1973, split-screen storytelling, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, unsociability, the tragic events of September 11, 2001, and more. It provides a glimpse into the impact of the terrorist attack on the world and its implications.
A short film made for Venezia 70 - Future Reloaded
Two interconnected stories in the 1930s, one set in Berlin, the other in Palestine: Mania Vilbouchevich Shohat (1880-1961), called Tania, a Russian Jew and revolutionary, goes from Minsk to Palestine to live on a collective. She promotes feminism and laments a shift in the men from self-defense to aggression. Her friend, Else Lasker-Schuler (1869 - 1945), expressionist poet and German Jew, is in Berlin, writing, caring for her son, watching Hitler's movement take power. She goes to Jerusalem and imagines a park for Arab and Jew. Her poems, voiced from within, capture her experience. The film meditates on the violence at the root of Israel's birth: of the Nazis and of the Zionists.
The film was shot entirely in a nightclub, with an adjoining contemporary art gallery, whose customers are both Israelis and Palestinians, in one of Israel’s most open cities, Haifa. A long night in a place where the most diverse people meet: Jews, Muslims, gays, heterosexuals, transvestites; and three women, who in that multifaceted microcosm, a gathering peaceful hideout, can find shelter from male bullying and arrogance.
Kippur is an autobiographical film about a military doctor and his experiences during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. The film tells the story of a rescue team that gets stuck in mud and faces a helicopter crash while trying to save a burnt man. It explores the aftermath of war and the impact it has on the soldiers and civilians involved.
Free Zone is a comedy-drama that takes place in the Middle East. It follows the story of a businesswoman from Israel and her journey through Jordan. Along the way, she encounters various obstacles and forms unlikely connections.
Filmed in one sequence-shot of 1 hour and 25 minutes, Ana Arabia is a moment in the life of a small community of outcasts, Jews and Arabs, who live together in a forgotten enclave at the “border” between Jaffa and Bat Yam, in Israel. One day, Yael, a young journalist, visits them. In these dilapidated shacks, in the orchard filled with lemon trees and surrounded by mass public houses, she discovers a range of characters far removed from the usual clichés offered by the region. Yael has the feeling of having discovered a human goldmine. She no longer thinks of her job. Faces and words of Youssef and Miriam, Sarah and Walid, of their neighbors, their friends tell her about life, its dreams and its hopes, its love affairs, desires and disillusions. Their relation to time is different than that of the city around them. In this tinkered and fragile place, there is a possibility of coexistence. A universal metaphor.
Disengagement is a drama film that centers around a woman who is faced with the difficult decision to disengage from her family. The film explores themes of mother-daughter relationships, adoption, and the Israeli disengagement from Gaza. As the story unfolds, the protagonist must navigate through various challenges and confront her past. With a mix of intrigue and emotional depth, Disengagement offers a compelling narrative that delves into the complexities of family ties and personal identity.
Made for the Venice Film Festival's 70th anniversary, seventy filmmakers made a short film between 60 and 90 seconds long on their interpretation of the future of cinema.
A man endeavors to collect memories of his grandparents who died in a concentration camp during the Holocaust.
Promised Land is a thought-provoking movie that explores the ethical challenges faced by a salesman who must convince a small town to allow fracking on their land. As he navigates the complex web of relationships and conflicting interests, he begins to question his own values and the consequences of his actions. With compelling performances and a powerful message, Promised Land delves into the heart of corporate greed and the struggle between progress and preservation.
On a tramway that connects several of Jerusalem's neighborhoods from East to West, a mosaic of people from different religious and ethnic backgrounds are brought together.
Gitai pays homage to Albert Camus and explores the return to Palestinian villages while interjecting texts by Izhar Smilansky, Emile Habibi, Mahmoud Darwish, and Amira Hass.
A young couple marry in France in the 1940s and the film follows the arc of their marriage over the next decade. As France recovers from the trauma of the war, the wife finds herself increasingly caught up in acquiring material possessions while the husband prefers a more traditional lifestyle.
In 1939, Kalman, an ambitious young businessman, leaves Europe to join his sister Samantha in Palestine. She lives with Dov, an idealistic architect obsessed with the Bauhaus style. With their friends, they form a group, which discusses the future Israeli State.