The Jerusalem Film Festival has issued a statement as it pushes on with its 42nd edition against the backdrop of a deepening Palestinian humanitarian crisis and Israeli hostage situation in Gaza, and less than a month after the 12-day Israel-Iran war.
The festival – running July 17 to 26 at the Jerusalem Cinematheque – will kick-off with a gala screening of Joachim Trier’s Cannes Grand Prize winner Sentimental Value in the traditional opening ceremony at the Sultan’s Pool amphitheatre.
Other Gala screenings across the festival will include Ido Fluk’s Koln 75, Michel Franco’s Dreams and Wendy Sach’s documentary October 8. Honorary guests will include Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot and Oscar nominated producer Lawrence Bender (Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting), who will both receive career achievement awards.
Jerusalem Cinematheque and festival CEO Roni Mahadav-Levin and artistic director Orr Sigoli acknowledged the gravity of the period in which the festival is set to unfold.
“With the festival set to open in one week, we do so with a profound sense of responsibility to our community, our region, and the global artistic family,” they said in the joint statement.
“We stand at a moment of deep pain and uncertainty. The ongoing war and violence in our region have caused immeasurable suffering and loss. We mourn every life lost, and we call for an immediate end to all acts of war and violence. We also express our heartfelt hope for the safe and swift return of all hostages to their families.”
It will be the second edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival to take place since the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks on Southern Israel in which 1,200 people died and another 251 were taken hostage, sparking Israel’s full-scale invasion of Gaza, in which more than 57,000 Palestinian people have died.
As the festival gears up for lift-off, Israel is facing growing international condemnation over the deaths of civilians around aid stations in Gaza and plans from Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz to move 600,000 Palestinians into an enclosed camp in the Rafah area of the strip.
On the Israeli side, family and friends of some 50 Gaza hostages are waiting for news of their loved ones. Around 20 are still believed to be alive. There is also growing outcry over the mounting death toll among Israeli soldiers in Gaza, as well as dissent from reservists unwilling to serve there and wider protests over the military operation.
The Israeli population is also recovering from the brief Israel-Iran war, which saw Iran fire missiles at the country, in retaliation for Israel’s attacks on military sites and nuclear installations, while skirmishes continue along the border with Southern Lebanon.
Against this backdrop, Mahadav-Levin and Sigoli emphasized the festival’s long-standing endeavor to be a space for freedom of artistic expression and open dialogue.
“In these difficult times, we reaffirm these values with even greater urgency. We believe that cinema can be a bridge between communities, across borders, and through histories. It can help us listen, understand, and imagine a different future. The path forward must be one of reconstruction, reconciliation, and peace—a future built not on fear, but on shared humanity.”
This year’s edition will screen around 80 features including International Competition titles Ari, The Great Arch, Lesson Learned, Meteors, The Secret Agent, Sound of Falling, The Things You Kill and Two Prosecutors.
Israeli Competition highlights include Eti Tsicko’s Georgia-set drama Nandauri, following an Israeli lawyer forced to confront her past when she travels to the country to retrieve an abandoned boy, and Shai Carmeli Pollak’s The Sea, about a Palestinian boy desperate to see the sea for the first time in his life, while Nadav Lapid’s latest film Yes!, which premiered in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, will play Out of Competition.
Mahadav-Levin and Sigoli thanked the international film professionals who have supported this year’s edition.
“We deeply value those who navigate complex realities with care and clarity, and who, like us, believe in the power of cinema to unite,” they said.
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