The 11th Annual Israel Film Center Festival returns to Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan (MMJCCM) in New York City showcasing powerful films in Israel’s film industry from June 1 to 8 and with virtual screenings through June 12.
The festival will open with the North American premiere of Silent, directed by Shemi Zarhin (Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi, Aviva My Love, and The World is Funny). Set amidst a fictional election cycle in Israel, Silent follows Avihu, a controversial TV host, who returns from suspension at the height of a prime minister election campaign. The leading candidate won’t speak to the media or give interviews, but has agreed—on his terms—to give Avihu an exclusive interview.
“These are the best new films coming out of a thriving industry and this year’s lineup just shows how far Israeli cinema has come, and it is truly one of the world’s leading industries,” says Isaac Zablocki, Israel Film Center Festival director and founder. “Many of these films tell internal stories that might not make it to the international festivals, but speak universally through their cinematic values.”
The festival will close with the North American premiere of The Good Person directed by Eitan Anner (A Quiet Heart, Love & Dance). Trying to avoid bankruptcy, Sharon—an ambitious, workaholic, arthouse film producer based in Tel Aviv—seizes an opportunity to collaborate with Uzi Silver, a once-revered film director, who has since become an Ultra-Orthodox rabbi. As they begin to make his comeback film—an adaptation of the epic biblical story of King Saul—artistic differences escalate into hostility.
11th Annual Israel Film Center Festival lineup:
Opening Night: SILENT
Dir. Shemi Zarhin
Israel, 2022, 130 min
North American Premiere
Avihu, a controversial TV host, is back from suspension at the height of a prime minister election campaign. The leading candidate won’t speak to the media or give interviews, but has agreed—on his terms—to give Avihu an exclusive interview. He isn’t the only one who is silent; Avihu’s mother has mysteriously stopped talking. Caught in the whirlwind of their silence, Avihu is on a path to his own reckoning.
ELIK AND JIMMY
Dir. Gudis Schneider
Israel, 2022, 93 min
North American Premiere
A witty and charming romantic comedy. Jimmy and Elik meet in the army, days before they’re discharged. A decade later, their paths cross again and they become friends. At least, until love gets in the mix.
AMERICA
Dir. Ofir Raul Graizer
Israel, 2022, 127 min
Having lived in Chicago for a decade, Israeli swimming coach Eli (Michael Moshonov) goes back to Tel Aviv after the sudden death of his estranged father. While there, he visits his childhood friend’s flower shop. However, the reunion triggers a series of life-altering events.
After the success of The Cakemaker, writer/director Ofir Raul Graizer returns with an affectionate tribute to ‘60s and ‘70s cinema in a film full of emotion, color, and fragrance that pays homage to values such as friendship, love, and moral responsibility.
JUNE ZERO
Dir. Jake Paltrow
USA/Israel, 2023, 105 min
Israel, 1962. After an emotional public trial, Adolf Eichmann has been tried and sentenced to death for crimes against humanity and the Jewish people. June Zero follows three characters involved in this nation-defining event: David, a 13-year-old Libyan immigrant, who works in the factory where Eichmann’s corpse was incinerated; Hayim, a Moroccan guard assigned to Eichmann’s jail cell; and Micha, a Polish survivor of Auschwitz and chief interrogator at the trial. These three seemingly disparate characters are inexorably connected in this seminal moment of Jewish history.
CONCERNED CITIZEN
Dir. Idan Haguel
Israel, 2022, 82 min
Architect Ben thinks of himself as a socially progressive, enlightened gay man. But a neighborly conflict over a newly planted tree in his up-and-coming south Tel Aviv neighborhood challenges his view of himself in this satirical drama on gentrification, xenophobia, and identity.
KARAOKE
Dir. Moshe Rosenthal
Israel, 2022, 100 min
A comedy about a married middle-class suburban couple who are drawn to their new neighbor, a charismatic bachelor who hosts karaoke evenings at his apartment. Tova and Meir fall hard for Itzik’s energetic lifestyle. They enter into a competition amongst their other neighbors and soon between themselves, trying to win Itzik’s attention.
MY NEIGHBOR ADOLF
Dir. Leon Prudovsky
Israel/Poland, 2023, 96 min
New York City Premiere
South America, 1960, just after Israel’s abduction of Adolf Eichmann. Polsky, a lonely and grumpy Holocaust survivor, lives in the Colombian countryside. When a mysterious old German man moves in next door, Polsky suspects that his new neighbor is… Adolf Hitler. But when no one believes him, Polsky is forced to engage in a relationship with the enemy in order to obtain irrefutable proof.
THE OTHER WIDOW
Dir. Ma’ayan Rypp
Israel, 2022, 83 min
New York Premiere
Ella (Dana Ivgy, Cinema Sabaya) is a costume designer involved in a long-term relationship with Assaf, a respected but married playwright. When Assaf dies unexpectedly, she attends every day of his shiva while keeping her identity under wraps. Diving into a world once forbidden to her, Ella grows closer and closer to Assaf’s brother, parents, and especially his wife (Ania Bukstein, A Quiet Heart).
Closing Night: THE GOOD PERSON
Dir. Eitan Anner
Israel, 2022, 86 min
North American Premiere
Sharon—an ambitious, workaholic, arthouse film producer based in Tel Aviv—finds herself on the brink of bankruptcy. She seizes an opportunity to collaborate with Uzi Silver, a once-revered film director, who has since become an Ultra-Orthodox rabbi. As they begin to make his comeback film—an adaptation of the epic biblical story of King Saul—artistic differences escalate into hostility.
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