Documentary films invite us to meet the world with curiosity, to discover other lives and worlds, and look more closely at our own surroundings and situation, reflecting on it all from an artistic perspective. Docaviv 2025 will take place from May 22 – 31, 2025 with screenings at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque and select locations throughout the city, including the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Suzanne Dellal, Migdalor, and Azrieli Sarona.
A new program of films has been added this year – A World in Struggle – with films that depict the dramatic events of current world history. On the battlefield, in art, in writing, in schools, homes, and across the globe, the films document the fight for freedom, and the effort to bring about a better future. Among the films in this program is Ai Weiwei’s Turandot, directed by Maxim Derevianko, which follows the artist and political dissident as he stages his interpretation of the classical opera at the Rome Opera House – art as a form of social action.
The International Competition includes: 2000 Meters to Andriivka, directed by Mstyslav Chernov (20 Days in Mariupol), follows a Ukranian platoon on a mission to liberate a village from occupying Russian forces; Afternoons of Solitude, directed by Albert Serra, a portrait of a matador; An American Pastoral, directed by Auberi Edler, which chronicles the culture wars in a Pennsylvania town over which books will be allowed in public schools; Dad’s Lullaby, directed by Lesia Diak, an intimate portrayl of the impact of war on individuals and families; Holding Liat, directed by Brandon Kramer, which follows Liat Atzili’s family over the time leading up to her release from captivity in Gaza; Home Game, directed by Lidija Zelovic, the director’s documentation of the refugee experience – her family’s life as they immigrated to the Netherlands from Sarajevo; Israel and Palestine on Swedish TV 1958 – 1989, directed by Göran Hugo Olsson, three decades of news reports from an outside perspective; Rule of Stone, directed by Danae Elon, explores architecture’s physical and ideological role in the conflict; Saint Damian, directed by Gregorio Sassoli and Alejandro Cifuentes, follows Damian, who went from a Polish psychiatric hospital to sleeping rough in Rome’s Termini Station; The Fabulous Gold Harvesting Machine; directed by Alfredo Pourailly De La Plaza, ailing Toto’s hand can no longer dig for gold, his son Jorge wants to build a machine to help him; The Flamenco Guitar of Yerai Cortés, directed by Antón Álvarez, through his music Cortés evokes Gypsy tradition as well as his own family memories; Viktor, directed by Olivier Sarbil, follows the young photographer who is hard-of-hearing, amidst the war in Ukraine.
Special events at the festival include:
Sunday, May 25th at 20:30 – An outdoor screening at the Suzanne Dellal Center of Seasons of Dance. Directed by Tommy Pascal, the film features four dance sequences by six choreographers – Franck Chartier, Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber (both formerly of the Batsheva Dance Company), Imre and Marne van Opstal, and Emilie Leriche – interpreting Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons.
Tuesday, May 27th at 16:00 – Rule of Stone and the Violence of Urban Space in Jerusalem – a screening followed by a panel discussion in collaboration with the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, featuring the film’s director Danae Elon, and moderated by Dr. Marik Shtern of the Van Leer Institute, a political geographer focusing on divided cities and the relations between groups in urban spaces. Panellists include: Prof. Alona Nitzan-Shiftan, the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology; Arch. Ahmad kharouf, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem; Efrat Cohen Bar, Co-Executive Director, Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights. The discussion will take place in Hebrew, at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque.
Tuesday, May 27th at 19:15 – The Yad Vashem Award: Eli Weisel: Soul on Fire. Docaviv and Yad Vashem will be presenting the Yad Vashem Award for an outstanding Holocaust-related documentary to Oren Rudavsky, director of Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire. The award will be presented by Tzvika Fayirizen, Yad Vashem CEO, and will be followed by a screening of the film.
Tuesday, May 27th at 20:30 – an open-air screening of the film Flamingos: Life After the Meteorite at the Migdalor. Admission is free, bring your own chair.
Information on the full festival program, tickets, and schedule, may be found on the Docaviv website: https://www.docaviv.co.il/2025-en/
Festival Director: Limor Aharonovitz; Artistic Director: Michal Weits; Program Manager: Anat Nattel
