There are movie events in Israel that warm the heart because they are a sign of regularity in the calendar, a harmonious cadence if you prefer, which brings us closer to the normal life of the past. Since October 7, any landmark that appears on the cultural horizon is a breath of fresh air and the film festival which takes place every July in the marvelous Sultan’s Pool of the Jerusalem Cinematheque is a major one. : this is the 41st edition.
Obviously in these times of war, the first thing we wish for it is to take place (we remember in 2014 its edition disrupted by rockets and the mobilization of a large number of directors who took sides with Gaza demanded that the festival be canceled). But if it takes place and it will take place because we must be optimistic from now on, the programming is a delight. A pure summary of everything that agitates Israeli society, a concentrate of madness, rebellion, transgression, tolerance, openness and love. Basically a love of cinema. This 41st edition includes, as every year, films, docs, short films in international and national competition, prizes are awarded and even money. And in these times of recession when every Israeli is making an effort, knowing that 1 million shekels will be distributed to the winners of all records brings balm to the heart, as if everything were normal, as if we were drowning in non-essential money.
We will of course come back to the general programming, but for now let’s focus on the Israeli selection and look at it with the eyes of an observer foreign to Israel, with the eyes of an ignoramus from Columbia, Sciences Po, the ICC or quite simply the world street which accuses Israel of all evils and knows nothing about it.
This year there will be, among others, the film by Yossef Abu Midian entitled “Aid”, a film dedicated to a sexual crime in the Bedouin world. There will be “Neither Day nor Night” by Pinhas Veuillet, the story of French Oriental Jews who returned to religion, immigrated to Israel and faced racism between the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Yeshiva for the studies of their religious son.
Also on the screens, the doc “The Governor” by Daniel Elpeleg, she returns to her grandfather’s job in the establishment of the country, in the military administration controlling Arab Israeli citizens. There is no better person than the Israelis themselves to judge their country and their history.
At the Jerusalem festival, the famous ignorant observer will be able to see the doc “Tabou” by Shauli Melamed dedicated to Amos Gutman, the first director of queer Israeli cinema (died of AIDS), he will also see “Of Dogs and Men” the story of ‘a young girl who after October 7 returns to Nir Oz to look for her dog. A film by Dany Rosenberg to whom we owe “The Deserter”.
And if after that Israeli society is still not complex and democratic enough for this incompetent critic of the Hebrew state, he will be able to recover a little and attend (if he enters the country) the screening of “De Haan” by Zvi Landsman, the story of Jacob Israel de Haan, a Dutch Jewish writer, assassinated in Jerusalem by the Zionist organization Haganah because of his anti-Zionist political activities, and his contacts with Arab leaders, but also a gay radical revered by some ultra-religious people in Mea Shearim in Jerusalem.
When we received the Israeli programming for this Jerusalem film festival this week, we started to dream. And if this explosion of themes addressed in the cinema in the most total freedom, in the most total expression, dedicated to men and women of the left, the right, religious, secular, gay, straight, Arabs, Bedouins or Palestinians was a lesson in Israeli normality intended for the world? What if it allowed the world to finally be enlightened, like in the cinema.
From July 18 to 27, Jerusalem Cinematheque 41st edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival: program here
