Jonathan Segal | 90 min | Sunday 28.10.12 8:30 pm

“Lipstikka” is a psychological drama which depicts the emotional bond between two Palestinian teenage girls from the West Bank.

On Inam’s birthday they decide to break curfew and sneak into the Jewish part of Jerusalem to see a movie. What begins as a youthful prank soon evolves into a twisted set of events. Fifteen years later they meet in London as adult women and realize that what they remember from their past may not necessarily reflect what indeed happened. “Lipstikka” is a subtle but powerful drama about love, memory and coming of age.

Won Best Actress- Jerusalem Film Festival 2011
Nominated for Best Supporting Actress – Israeli Academy Awards 2011
Nominated for Golden Berlin Bear -Berlin International Film Festival 2011
Nominated for Wolgin Award – Jerusalem Film Festival 2011

Ami Drozd | 100 min | Tuesday 30.10.12 8:30 pm

Unfolding from the point of view of 10-year old, fatherless Tadek, “My Australia” takes place in mid-1960s Poland. Tadek, with his 14-year old brother, Andrzej, has fallen in with an anti-Semitic street gang. When the two boys are arrested for beating up Jewish children, their mother reveals the truth about herself: she is a Holocaust survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto.

Mother Halina soon advises that they are leaving Poland for good and traveling to Australia, a country that has long been a fantasy for Tadek. In truth, the family is destined for Israel, where the two brothers will need to quickly adapt to the new environment and culture. Unable to find employment on arriving in Haifa, Halina sends Tadek and Andrzej to live on a kibbutz – prompting the real culture shock to set in! The film’s portrayal of the boys’ struggle to accept their new identities has an affecting, emotional honesty, enhanced by the fact that both writer/director Ami Drozd and co-producer emigrated to Israel from Poland.

Jakub Wroblewski, playing Tadek, is immensely watchable and convincing as the young anti-hero. His angelic face belies his precocious and streetwise attitude. His performance is a revelation.

Winner: Audience Award, Jerusalem Film Festival 2011

BY PHONE ONLY

Haim Bouzaglo | 93 min | Monday 29.10.12 8:30 pm

Israel 2005, the first days of the disengagement from the Gaza Strip. Once again, threats on Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon remind Israelis the horror of Rabin’s murder.

They fear that this incident may repeat itself. Amos Snir, head of the national intelligence agency of Israel (Shin Beth) has just 60 hours to prevent a political assassination. Snir tries to cancel all Sharon’s public appearances. However, Sharon is determined to appear at the Yad VaShem Museum for the Holocaust Memorial Day Ceremony where he is to be the key speaker. There’s a list of suspects and Snir’s hunt leads him to the very core of Israeli society, to the differences and confrontation created by the country’s tense reality.

“Blank Bullet”, inspired by the assassination of Rabin, is a political thriller with a twist.

[]

Nissim Notrika | 94 min | Tuesday 30.10.12 6:30 pm

The death of his father, Sami, sends Micha, a man in his forties, on a voyage of remembrance of the colourful and often painful experiences of his childhood. Among them, the touching story of his mother Malka and her love of Sami, a gambler and idler, a man who spends his life playing cards and chasing women, and who eventually abandoned her for his mistress. Malka had met and fell passionately in love with Sami when she was only 17 years old. She was unable (perhaps refused) to see his many flaws. Even with Sami leaving her for another woman, divorce was out of the question for Malka, a Sephardic woman in 1960s Jerusalem.

The whole social structure is built around keeping married couples together, but she just uses that as an excuse to stay with this worthless man she is so in love with. This story of a Sephardic family, seen through the eyes of an introverted child, allows us a glimpse of the Nachlaot quarter of Jerusalem with its simple and warm people, their folklore, everyday difficulties, and the beauty of its backstreets.

You may relate to this film as many people have Shiva’a.

Nominated for Dolgin Award – Jerusalem Film Festival 2011

[]

Yossi Madmoni | 102 min | Monday 29.10.12 6:30 pm

Iraqi-born, veteran Israeli actor, Sasson Gabai (“The Band’s Visit”) plays Fidelman, an elderly wood restorer who is lost following the death of his partner of 40 years. He is as broken down as the shop he operates in an old section of Tel Aviv. As he struggles to keep his workshop open, he also has to confront his own son trying to close down the shop to turn the property into apartments. Since his partner’s death and his strained relationship with his son Noah, Fidelman seems to have little connection to the world. Even impending grandfatherhood does little to lift the old man’s spirits. Something has to change.

When that change arrives, it’s hardly momentous. Fidelman hires Anton to help him clean up and do menial work around the shop. He’s a mysterious young man running away from his family’s wealth and his past as an accomplished musician. As the old man’s finances become more and more desperate, Anton discovers an antique Steinway piano in the store. Its restoration, if even possible, could solve all their problems. Over time, as the piano is delicately restored, a fragile bond forms between Anton and Fidelman, bringing the old man and his apprentice closer together.

Ultimately, the film is more about the restoration of Fidelman, than the piano’s.

Best Feature Film – Jerusalem Film Festival 2011 Best Film – Grand-Prix Crystal Globe Award Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2011 Dramatic Screenwriting Award – 2011 Sundance Film Festival Nominated for 11 Israeli Academy Awards! 2011 Official Selection – 2011 Toronto International Film Festival Official Selection – World Cinema Dramatic Competition Sundance Film Festival 2011

Doron Eran | 90 min | Sunday 28.10.12 6:30 pm

Shlomo, on discovering women’s clothing and accessories in the bedroom of his son, Assaf, he decides to teach the boy a lesson. When Assaf returns to his parents’ home on a rainy night following a party, he’s unable to get into the house.With the silent consent of Gallia, his mother, the door has been locked by his father.

Four years later, his mother turns to a detective agency to find her son and bring him to Shlomo, now dying of cancer. One night, in a Tel Aviv nightclub, Assaf is seen as a beautiful transgendered singer, performing under the name of Anna. A few days later, a private nurse turns up at Shlomo’s hospital room, claiming that she’s been sent by the insurance agency. Nurse Anna/son Assaf conquers Shlomo’s heart with her charming personality and her special attitude toward life.

“Melting Away” is the first feature film in the history of Israeli cinema dealing with the topic of parents and their relationships with their transgendered children. The film was conceived following the brutal murders at the Tel Aviv LGBT Youth Center in 2009 and the deep shock felt by Doron Eran and his partner, screenwriter Bili Ben Moshe, on hearing of parents refusing to visit their injured children in the hospital.

Nominated for Best Actress – Chen Yanni – Israeli Academy Awards 2011

@@Eran Riklis | 103 minutes | Sun 4:30 pm, Wen 6:30 pm
From the acclaimed director of “Lemon Tree” and “The Syrian Bride”.

Yulia, a foreign worker at a Jerusalem bakery, is killed in a bombing, and an aggressive journalist creates a scandal after her
unclaimed body lies in the morgue for a week. To counter the negative image of a big, cold company allowing an employee’s
remains to languish in the morgue, the business’ owner instructs her human resources manager to accompany Yulia’s body back
to her native land. Far from home, on a mission to honour a woman he didn’t even know, the HR manager rediscovers his own
humanity. The manager encounters many unanticipated obstacles while attempting to fulfill his mission. Witty and full of character,
this is a touching tragicomedy based on the novel by Abraham B. Jehoshua.
Read more
Winner of five (5) Israeli Film Academy Awards (2010) including:

Best Film | Best Director – Eran Riklis | Best Screenplay -
Noah Stollman | Best Sound – Gil Toren, Asher Milo | Best Supporting Actress – Rosina Kambus

Eran Riklis | 103 minutes | Sun 4:30 pm, Wen 6:30 pm
From the acclaimed director of “Lemon Tree” and “The Syrian Bride”.

Yulia, a foreign worker at a Jerusalem bakery, is killed in a bombing, and an aggressive journalist creates a scandal after her
unclaimed body lies in the morgue for a week. To counter the negative image of a big, cold company allowing an employee’s
remains to languish in the morgue, the business’ owner instructs her human resources manager to accompany Yulia’s body back
to her native land. Far from home, on a mission to honour a woman he didn’t even know, the HR manager rediscovers his own
humanity. The manager encounters many unanticipated obstacles while attempting to fulfill his mission. Witty and full of character,
this is a touching tragicomedy based on the novel by Abraham B. Jehoshua.
Read more
Winner of five (5) Israeli Film Academy Awards (2010) including:

Best Film | Best Director – Eran Riklis | Best Screenplay -
Noah Stollman | Best Sound – Gil Toren, Asher Milo | Best Supporting Actress – Rosina Kambus

He graduated from the film & television department of “Camera Obscura” School of Arts, Tel Aviv in 2002.

In less than five years of film making, Guy has completed two feature films and three acclaimed shorts. His films, “The Flood”, “Strangers” & “Offside” have received over 20 awards at international film festivals including The Crystal Bear at Berlin and Best Short at Sundance.

His debut film, “Strangers” (co-written & co-directed with Erez Tadmor), has won international acclaim and participated in the 2008 official selection competition at Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca and many others. Guy’s second feature, Mabul, won “Best Film” at the Haifa International Film Festival and was nominated for 6 Israeli academy awards. The feature also won “Best Israeli Supporting Actor” for 2010 and Special Mention Award in Berlin Film Festival 2011.

Eran Riklis | 103 minutes | Sun 4:30 pm, Wen 6:30 pm
From the acclaimed director of “Lemon Tree” and “The Syrian Bride”.

Yulia, a foreign worker at a Jerusalem bakery, is killed in a bombing, and an aggressive journalist creates a scandal after her
unclaimed body lies in the morgue for a week. To counter the negative image of a big, cold company allowing an employee’s
remains to languish in the morgue, the business’ owner instructs her human resources manager to accompany Yulia’s body back
to her native land. Far from home, on a mission to honour a woman he didn’t even know, the HR manager rediscovers his own
humanity. The manager encounters many unanticipated obstacles while attempting to fulfill his mission. Witty and full of character,
this is a touching tragicomedy based on the novel by Abraham B. Jehoshua.
Read more
Winner of five (5) Israeli Film Academy Awards (2010) including:

Best Film | Best Director – Eran Riklis | Best Screenplay -
Noah Stollman | Best Sound – Gil Toren, Asher Milo | Best Supporting Actress – Rosina Kambus