28th Israel Film Festival
Saban Theatre
Los Angeles, CA
Opening Night
"Next To Her"
Directed by
Asaf KormanWritten by:
Liron Ben-ShlushStar: Dana Ivgy, Liron Ben-Shlush, Liat Goren, Varda Ben HurRachel, 27, is raising her mentally challenged sister Gabby, 24, all by herself. When the social worker finds out she leaves her sister alone in the house while at work, she is forced to place her in a day-care center. For the first time in her life she shares the upbringing of her dear sister with someone else, her daily routine collapses and the huge void, left by her sister's absence, makes room for a man in Rachel's life. That man, Zohar, tears another crack in the symbiotic relationship of the two sisters. Rachel hangs on to his love as if it was a life belt. But her inability to lead a normal, intimate and emotional relationship with anyone but her sister, forces them into a twisted threesome, where boundaries between love, sacrifice, nurturing and torturing - are broken.
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Apples From The Desert
Stars: Moran Rosenblatt
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NEXT TO HER (2014) 90 mins
Directed By: Asaf Korman
Directed By: Asaf Korman
Chelli is the sole caretaker for her mentally-challenged sister Gabby. When Chelli begins a romantic relationship with the kindly Zohar, a fascinating triangle develops, as Chelli loses her grip on her vulnerable sibling. This is an affecting and compelling drama about co-dependency and learning to let go.
Screenings
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HILL START (2014) 90 mins
Directed By: Oren Stern
Directed By: Oren Stern
Israeli comedic-genius Shlomo Bar-Aba stars in this humorous drama as the head of a bourgeois family about to collapse under the weight of a tough father, a gentle son, an unmarried daughter, a comatose mother, a wedding, hot tempers, love, passion and vehicle operation.
Screenings
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APPLES FROM THE DESERT (2014) 96 mins
Directed By: Matti Harari, Arik Lubetzki
Directed By: Matti Harari, Arik Lubetzki
Rebecca is the only daughter of an Orthodox Jewish family living in Jerusalem. Unhappy with the reality of her life, Rebecca secretly exposes herself to the secular world. One day she runs away from her family to a kibbutz in the desert with a young man.
Screenings
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THE DOVE FLYER (2013) 105 mins
Directed By: Nissim Dayan
Directed By: Nissim Dayan
Between the years 1950-51 close to 130 thousand Jews left Iraq. The most ancient Jewish community in the world ceased to exist. Director Nissim Dayan’s first film in three decades is a daring and ambitious adaptation of Eli Amir’s Novel.
Screenings
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LIFE AS A RUMOR (2013) 123 mins
Directed By: Adi Arbel, Moish Goldberg
Directed By: Adi Arbel, Moish Goldberg
An autobiographical documentary by Assi Dayan, son of famed Israeli General Moshe Dayan, and one of Israel’s most prominent film directors and actors. Dayan witnessed the behind-the-scenes of all major political and cultural milestones in Israel’s history and had much to say about them in the daring films he made.
Screenings
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SHTISEL (2013) 90 mins / 2 episodes
Directed By: Alon Zingman
Directed By: Alon Zingman
Hit Israeli television show which garnered acclaim for its unorthodox portrayal of an ultra-orthodox Jewish family in Jerusalem.
Screenings
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IS THAT YOU? (2014) 81 mins
Directed By: Dani Menkin
Directed By: Dani Menkin
A romantic road film about Ronnie, a recently-fired 60-year-old Israeli projectionist, who travels to the U.S. in search of the love of his youth. Myla, a film student making a documentary about regrets, follows him and records his journey.
Screenings
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KICKING OUT SHOSHANA (2014) 100 mins
Directed By: Shay Kanot
Directed By: Shay Kanot
In the conservative city of Jerusalem, Ami Shoshan an Israeli soccer player is forced by a mafia boss to pose as a homosexual, in punishment for flirting with the latter’s girlfriend. Shunned by his teammates and fans alike, Shoshan nevertheless finds himself a hero of the gay community.
Screenings
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TUBIANSKI (2014) 84 mins
Directed By: Riki Shelach
Directed By: Riki Shelach
Veteran director Riki Shelach and esteemed author Michael Bar-Zohar vividly relate the remarkable true story of Meir Tubianski, an Israel Defense Forces officer, who in 1948 was investigated for treason, arrested, tried and executed – all in less than four hours. Tubiasnski was subsequently found innocent of all charges.
Screenings
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SUICIDE (2014) 130 mins
Directed By: Benny Fredman
Directed By: Benny Fredman
This intense and suspenseful action thriller follows a young, successful lawyer who, in the course of one day has to commit the perfect crime in order to save her family from a psychotic loan-shark.
Screenings
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HUNTING ELEPHANTS (2013) 107 mins
Directed By: Reshef Levi
Directed By: Reshef Levi
Entertaining caper film starring Israeli film legends Sasson Gabai and Moni Moshonov; and featuring a delightful comedic turn by Sir Patrick Stewart, this is the heartwarming story of a boy who conspires with three senior citizens to rob a bank in order to save himself and his mother from losing their house.
Screenings
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THE WONDERS (2013) 112 mins
Directed By: Avi Nesher
Directed By: Avi Nesher
Prominent director AviNesher charms audiences with this story about the complex relationship between a Jerusalem street artist and a mysterious, modern-day prophet being held prisoner in an abandoned apartment across the alleyway.
Screenings
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A PLACE IN HEAVEN (2013) 117 mins
Directed By: Yossi Madmoni
Directed By: Yossi Madmoni
A bold epic starring renowned Israeli actor AlonAboutboul. Forty years after a secular war-hero offhandedly trades his eternal soul to an army-cook in exchange for a hot meal; his religious son must race against time to find the cook and buy back his dying father’s place in heaven.
Screenings
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WHITE PANTHER (2013) 89 mins
Directed By: Danni Reisfeld
Directed By: Danni Reisfeld
Alex, a young Russian immigrant to Israel, joins a skinheads’ gang, led by his older brother. An unexpected meeting with David, a Moroccan Jew, allows Alex to pursue his dream of becoming a boxer. Alex finds himself torn between two mentors.
Screenings
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UP THE WRONG TREE (2013) 90 mins
Directed By: Gur Bentwich
Directed By: Gur Bentwich
A restless and cynical bum, obsessed with wooing back his ex- girlfriend (and their beloved dog), finds himself, contrary to his anti- political and anti-everything attitude, stuck atop a tree overlooking her apartment and fearlessly leading an environmental battle against real-estate sharks, refusing to climb down even when bulldozers arrive.
Screenings
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MAGIC MEN (2014) 100 mins
Directed By: Guy Nattiv, ErezTadmor
Directed By: Guy Nattiv, ErezTadmor
The engaging story of an elderly Greek man and his Hasidic rapper son, who have been long estranged. Together they travel from Israel to Greece in search of a magician who saved the father during World War II. The occasionally absurd journey forces father and son to confront one another.
Screenings
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ABOVE AND BEYOND (2014) 90 mins
Directed By: Roberta Grossman
Directed By: Roberta Grossman
In 1948, a group of World War II pilots volunteered to fight for Israel in the War of Independence. As members of 'Machal' -- volunteers from abroad -- this ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war, preventing the possible annihilation of Israel at the very moment of its birth; they also laid the groundwork for the Israeli Air Force. ABOVE AND BEYOND is their story.
Screenings
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LIFE SENTENCES (2013) 82 min
Directed By: Nurit Kedar, Yaron Shani
Directed By: Nurit Kedar, Yaron Shani
An Arab man marries a Jewish woman and they live in quiet harmony among the Arab-Jewish community with their son and daughter. The family unit is broken when they discover that their Arab father is behind dozens of terror attacks.
Screenings
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FAREWELL, HERR SCHWARZ (2014) 96 mins
Directed By: Yael Reuveny
Directed By: Yael Reuveny
The outcome of a decision made by a brother and sister in 1945 to reunite after the war and their subsequent failure to do so. This is a film about consequences which chronicles one missed meeting, two families, and three generations.
Screenings
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DANCING IN JAFFA (2013) 85 mins
Directed By: Hilla Medalia
Directed By: Hilla Medalia
Internationally renowned ballroom dancer Pierre Dulaine returns to his birthplace, Jaffa, to fulfill his lifelong dream of teaching Jewish and Palestinian-Israeli children to dance together. The children are forced to confront issues of identity, segregation and racism, as they dance with their enemies.
Screenings
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SOUND OF TORTURE (2013) 60 mins
Directed By: Keren Shayo
Directed By: Keren Shayo
The moving and urgent stories of African refugees who, in their attempts to flee north to Israel, were captured by Bedouin smugglers in the Sinai desert, held in camps and tortured for ransom.
Screenings
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POLE, DANCER AND A MOVIE (2013) 55 mins
Directed By: Isri Halpern
Directed By: Isri Halpern
Without apology or a sense of victimhood, this dynamic film follows the founder of Israel's first pole dancing studio as she competes for the European title champion, while outspokenly challenging the very world she lives in no less than she challenges the one from which she came.
Screenings
| DATE | TIME | VENUE | |
DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE? + THE STORY OF POOGY (2013) 50 +41mins
Directed By: Do you Believe in Love?: Dani Vasserman The Story Of Poogy: Ofer Naim
Directed By: Do you Believe in Love?: Dani Vasserman The Story Of Poogy: Ofer Naim
Do you believe in Love
This entertaining and heartwarming documentary short follows Tova who is paralyzed because of muscular dystrophy; but as a successful Matchmaker, she tirelessly strives to find love for all who seek it
The Story Of Poogy
The story of Meir “Poogy” Fenigstein, the drummer for Kaveret, Israel’s all-time classic rock band who would go on to found and produce the Israel Film Festival in the U.S. As Poogy follows his artistic and personal dreams, he is contacted by his 18-year-old daughter – one he never even knew he had.
This entertaining and heartwarming documentary short follows Tova who is paralyzed because of muscular dystrophy; but as a successful Matchmaker, she tirelessly strives to find love for all who seek it
The Story Of Poogy
The story of Meir “Poogy” Fenigstein, the drummer for Kaveret, Israel’s all-time classic rock band who would go on to found and produce the Israel Film Festival in the U.S. As Poogy follows his artistic and personal dreams, he is contacted by his 18-year-old daughter – one he never even knew he had.
Screenings
| DATE | TIME | VENUE | |
THE KATZMAN TAPES (2013) 93 mins
Directed By: Amnon Winner
Directed By: Amnon Winner
Ironic and satirical mockumentary which maintains a serious façade as it relates the life story of the elusive Samuel Katzman and his non-recorded influence on the history of the State of Israel and the Zionist dream. Shot over the course of a decade around the globe. (93 mins. 2013)
Screenings
| DATE | TIME | VENUE | |
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