Past Festivals - 2021 Films

200 Meters
2020 | 96 minutes | Narrative
Director: Ameen Nayfeh

Mustafa lives in the West Bank and his wife, Salwa, lives 200 meters away. They are separated by the Israeli border wall. One day, Mustafa gets the call every parent dreads—his son has been injured in an accident. Rushing to cross the Israeli checkpoint to see him, Mustafa is denied entry on a technicality. A 200-meter distance becomes a 200-kilometer odyssey as Mustafa, left with no choice, attempts to smuggle himself to the other side of the wall.

Screening will be followed by live Q+A with director, Ameen Nayfeh. Moderated by Yona Shem-Tov.

Streaming Window:

November 4, 2021 10:00 am - November 11, 2021 11:45 pm Tickets

CANCELED: A Reel War: Shalaal
2021 | 60 minutes | Documentary
US Premiere
Director: Karnit Mandel

History is written by the victors. But is it also archived by them? While researching footage for a documentary, an Israeli archive researcher comes across a box of tapes titled “Loot.”  Shalaal is a story of a lost Palestinian film archive seized by the Israeli military. Using never-before-seen footage, the film delves into historical events captured in the footage through the POV of eyewitness accounts on both sides. It is the story of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—from a new viewpoint. The real war is fought not with firepower, but with the ability to control the narrative and deny people access to their own history.

Ahed's Knee
2021 | 109 minutes | Narrative
Director: Nadav Lapid

Y, a celebrated Israeli filmmaker, arrives in a remote desert village to present a film at a local library. Struggling to cope with the recent news of his mother’s fatal illness, he is pushed into a spiral of rage when a government employee asks him to sign a form placing restrictions on what he can say at the film’s Q+A. This masterfully detailed, complex drama offers a sharp critique of the censorship, hypocrisy, and violence instigated by Israel and repressive governments everywhere. Winner of Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize.

A live virtual Q+A with director Nadav Lapid will take place Sun, Nov 7, 10AM EST.

And I Was There
2020 | 65 minutes | Documentary
US Premiere
Director: Eran Paz

As a young soldier, director Eran Paz documented himself and the members of his unit taking over Palestinian homes in the West Bank and locking families in rooms in order to maintain military control. Eighteen years later, he decides to confront his past and his personal responsibility within systems of power.

Live virtual Q+A on Thu, Nov 11 at 11am EST, with director Eran Paz, producer Zafrir Kochanovsky and senior OneVoice Palestine youth activist Rami Rabayah.

Streaming Window:

November 4, 2021 10:00 am - November 11, 2021 11:45 pm Tickets

Blue Box
2021 | 82 minutes | Documentary
New York Premiere
Director: Michal Weits

The Jewish National Fund’s (JNF) beloved Blue Box campaign was internationally successful in raising support for the purchase and forestation of land in Palestine and later Israel. The trees have since spread their roots, but evidence remains of the Palestinian communities displaced by the once-fragile seedlings. Joseph Weits, filmmaker Michal Weits’ great-grandfather, was a key figure in the JNF, and his private diaries reveal the story of the massive land takeover that led to the creation of the state of Israel. In conversations with her family, Michal questions his actions, resulting in an exploration of a nation’s past and an uncomfortable truth.

Screening will be followed by live Q+A with director, Michal Weits. Moderated by Libby Lenkinski.

Presented in collaboration with DOCNYC.

Co-presented by PIN. Progressive Israel Network (PIN) groups including: Americans for Peace Now, Ameinu, Hashomer Hatzair North America, J Street, New Israel Fund (NIF), Partners for Progressive Israel (PPI), T’ruah

Streaming Window:

November 4, 2021 10:00 am - November 11, 2021 11:45 pm Tickets

Cinema Sabaya
2021 | 92 minutes | Narrative
New York Premiere
Director: Orit Fouks Rotem

Actress Dana Ivgy leads a cast of non-actors and professionals in this dramatic narrative. Nine women, Arab and Jewish, take part in a video workshop to learn how to document their lives, hosted by a young film director named Rona. As the women begin to film their lives and share the raw, homemade footage with the rest of the group, the group dynamic shifts, forcing each of them to challenge their views and beliefs as they get to know one another and themselves better.

Screening will be followed by live Q+A with director, Orit Fouks Rotem.

Let It Be Morning
2021 | 101 minutes | Narrative
US Premiere
Director: Eran Kolirin

Sami lives in Jerusalem with his wife and child, and an invitation to his brother’s wedding forces him to return to the Arab village where he grew up. After the wedding, with no warning or explanation, the village is put under military lockdown by Israeli soldiers and cut off from the outside world. Chaos rises overnight amongst those stuck within the walls. Director Eran Kolirin (The Band’s Visit) brings Sayed Kashua’s bestselling novel to life, exposing the absurdist world of Palestinian reality while highlighting human stories of being trapped in an unexpected situation. 

Produced by Dori Media.

Screening will be followed by live Q+A with director, Eran Kolirin, moderated by Annette Insdorf.

Skies Above Hebron
2020 | 55 minutes | Documentary
Director: Esther Hertog, Paul King

Filmed over the course of five years, the lives of three Palestinian boys—Amer (16), Anas (12), and Marwaan (16)—are documented as they grow up in the ancient city center of the West Bank city of Hebron. Hebron is the only major Palestinian city with a growing Jewish settlement built in its heart. Here, 800 settlers live amongst Israeli soldiers who “protect” them from 200,000 Palestinians.

Official Selection, IDFA Competition for Kids & Docs, 2020

Screening will be followed by live Q+A with director Esther Hertog. Moderated by Karen S. Shapiro.

Streaming Window:

November 4, 2021 10:00 am - November 11, 2021 11:45 pm Tickets

The First 54 Years: An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation
2021 | 110 minutes | Documentary
Director: Avi Mograbi

Through the testimonies of the soldiers who have implemented the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories over 54 years, director Avi Mograbi provides a “Manual for Military Occupation” with insights on how a colonialist occupation works and the logic at work behind its practices.

Screening will be followed by live Q+A with director, Avi Mograbi, and Ori Givati Advocacy Director from Breaking the Silence. Moderated by Gili Getz.

Streaming Window:

November 4, 2021 10:00 am - November 11, 2021 11:45 pm Tickets

Special Preview: The Fourth Window
2020 | 88 minutes | Documentary
Director: Yair Qedar

Behind the international success story of Amos Oz—a writer whose works have been translated into 45 languages and who has been held up as a symbol of the Israeli conscience—lurked a tumultuous personal life. When he was 12 years old, his mother died by suicide. Several years before his death, his daughter ended all communication with him after accusing him of being physically and mentally violent. Through a series of conversations with his latest biographer and a tapestry of biographical passages, literature, and conversations with significant people in his life, Amos Oz tells his last story.

Screening will be followed by live Q+A with director, Yair Qedar. Moderated by Ruby Namdar.

Streaming Window:

November 4, 2021 10:00 am - November 11, 2021 11:45 pm Tickets

What If? Ehud Barak on War and Peace
2020 | 85 minutes | Documentary
New York Premiere
Director: Ran Tal

Can a leader succeed in influencing the world? Ehud Barak is a controversial former prime minister, decorated and criticized commander on the battlefield, and one of the leading figures of the Zionist movement. He is also the initiator of Israel’s plan to assassinate Yasser Arafat. In this remarkable film, Barak observes his own history and that of the state of Israel with disillusioned clarity. This outstanding philosophical essay proposes a deep cinematic reflection on history and decision making.

Screening will be followed by live Q+A with director, Ran Tal. Moderated by Jacob Kornbluh, the senior political reporter at the Forward.

Streaming Window:

November 4, 2021 10:00 am - November 11, 2021 11:45 pm Tickets

Special Preview: With No Land
2021 | 82 minutes | Documentary
Director: Aalam-Warqe Davidian, Kobi Davidian

Thirty years ago, Operation Solomon brought 15,000 Jews from Ethiopia to Israel in under 24 hours, and was hailed as a magnificent military operation that only Israel could have pulled off. Discover the untold history, silenced and kept in the dark for decades, and learn about the dangerous but necessary actions that were taken across three continents by the Jewish Ethiopian activists fighting for justice for their community. With firsthand testimonies and unique archive footage, the film retells the history leading up to Operation Solomon and follows the current efforts to bring those who were left behind in Ethiopia to Israel.

This film is virtually only available in the tri-state area (NJ, NY, CT).

Screening will be followed by live Q+A with directors, Aalam-Warqe Davidian and Kobi Davidian. Moderated by Beejhy Barhany, founder of BINA Cultural Foundation.

Streaming Window:

November 4, 2021 10:00 am - November 11, 2021 11:45 pm Tickets

Nafas
2020 | 35 minutes | Narrative
New York Premiere
Director: Maysaloun Hamoud

Warda, Kayes, and Salah, all Palestinian students, fled their upbringings in conservative Arab society for Tel Aviv. At the center of this Jewish, liberal, hipster bubble, they reinvent themselves. Vivid and taboo-breaking, Maysaloun Hamoud’s (In Between) debut television series Nafas is a first of its kind in Israel: a show in Arabic about Arabs—the likes of which viewers have never seen before.

3 episodes will be shown.

A live virtual Q+A with director Maysaloun Hamoud will take place Sat, Nov 6, 12PM EDT.

Streaming Window:

November 4, 2021 10:00 am - November 18, 2021 11:45 pm Tickets

Mission Hebron
2020 | 24 minutes | Documentary Short
US Premiere
Director: Rona Segal

Six Israeli men who served in the army give an account of their mission in Hebron, a Palestinian city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The young soldiers were tasked with protecting a compact community of Jewish settlers from the city’s predominantly Palestinian population. Barely adults, these young men were given complete control of public life in the area. Based on the duties defined in their military handbook, the six ex-soldiers describe their mission, both official and unofficial. 

Streaming Window:

November 4, 2021 10:00 am - November 11, 2021 11:45 pm Tickets

Paradise
2021 | 32 minutes | Narrative Short
US Premiere
Director: Asaf Saban

After years of living in Berlin, Ali, a young Palestinian, lands in Israel for a home visit. Following a cold welcome at the airport, Ali decides to seek some peace and quiet on a short vacation in the desert of Sinai, Egypt. When a group of young Israeli Jewish tourists mistakes him for one of them, Ali is forced to reflect on his identity. Starring Ala Dakka.

Screening will be followed by live Q+A with director, Asaf Saban.

Streaming Window:

November 4, 2021 10:00 am - November 11, 2021 11:45 pm Tickets