The 42nd Jerusalem Film Festival has announced its program of Israeli films, which will include 8 films in the Haggiag Competition for Feature Films, 6 films in the Diamond Competition for Documentary Films, 17 films in the Diamond Competition for Short Films, 7 films in the Israeli Video Art and Experimental Film Competition. There will be special screenings of three feature films out of competition: a digitally restored print of David Perlov’s The Pill (1972); Yes by Nadav Lapid, and My One and Only by David Tauber.
The Jerusalem Film Festival will take place from July 17 – 26, 2025. The full program and ticket information will be available on the festival website.
Haggiag Competition for Best Israeli Feature
Nandauri
Directed by Eti Tsicko – Debut Feature
In a remote village in the snowy mountains of Georgia, the arrival of a stranger, a woman, disturbs the peace. World premiere.
Oxygen
Directed by Netalie Braun
Anat, a primary school teacher and single mother of Ido, waits impatiently for his release from the army and their joint trip to India. When his release is cancelled, and Ido is sent into a war that has just broken out, she sets out on a journey to bring him back home. World premiere.
Dead Language
Directed by Mihal Brezis and Oded Binnun
Aya is waiting for her husband at the airport terminal, but finds herself picking up another man in his stead. The instant intimacy that blossoms between them is cut off when the stranger disappears and leaves her with the key to his room and an unfulfilled desire that apparently, only a stranger can fulfill. The film premiered at Tribeca.
Mama
Directed by Or Sinai – Debut film
Mila has been working far from her homeland for many years to save enough money to secure her family’s future. When an unexpected accident sends her back to the poor Polish village she came from, she must accept the fact that the passage of time has changed the members of her family and changed her as well. The film premiered at Cannes, out of competition.
Bella
Directed by Zohar Shachar and Jamal Khalaily – Debut Feature
When Miki realizes that Bella, the pigeon he inherited from his father, is very valuable – she has already been sent to a wedding on the West Bank. He sets out with his friend Bilal, and their wives, on a chaotic journey between checkpoints, a wedding, and a Palestinian sulha in order to bring back the pigeon and sell it to an Emirati prince in Jerusalem. World premiere.
The Sea
Directed by Shai Carmeli Pollak
Khaled, a 12-year-old boy from a village near Ramallah, goes on a class trip to the sea. Unlike the rest of his friends, he is not permitted to pass at the checkpoint. Disappointed, Khaled sets out alone. His father who works in Israel without a permit, drops everything and sets out to find his son, despite the risk that he will be caught and lose his job. World premiere.
Cuz You’re Ugly
Directed by Sharon Angelhart – Debut Feature
Just as she is about to become an officer in the IDF, Avigail, an insecure soldier with anger issues, comes home to Jerusalem with a single mission: to lose her virginity before the weekend is over. Her plans go sideways when she learns that her younger sister is pregnant. Now, instead of losing her virginity, she has to get rid of the baby. World premiere.
Houses
Directed by Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum – Debut Feature
Sasha, a non-binary individual who immigrated to Israel from the Soviet Union in 1990, revisits all the houses they lived in, in the city of their childhood, Safed. They collect memories, recall traumas, and confront their deepest fears. Premiered at the Berlin Film Festival.
The Diamond Competition for Israeli Documentary
Crazy Spring by Chen Shelach
Where’s Yadida? By Israela Shaer Meoded
Malachi by Noam Demsky, Ido Bahat
The Dreamer by Kobi Farag, Morris Ben-Mayor, Omer Shiloach
On Thin Ice by Udi Kalinsky, Irit Hod
One Street in Silwan by Bissan Tibi
The Diamond Competition for Israeli Shorts
The Things we Do For Love and a Foreign Passport (Ayal Sgerski) The Tower (Asaf Goldberg) Butterfly Kiss (Zohar Dvir) Yes or No (Asaf Korman) Tongue Behind Teeth (Ira Eduardovna) Thresholds (Shira Havron) Frames for Michael (Liya Daniel Elbashan) A Bird’s Wish (Gan de Lange) Palm Tree in Gaza (Tamara Abu Jama) Half a Date (Eden Abitbol) Before Anyone Else (Ziv Mamon) Home Base (Amit Kra) In Pigeons Blood (Chaya Moshayev, Hod Adler) Dalia’s Tea Casts a Shadow on Mount Fuji (Oren Garner) Maintenance (Rotem Avidani) Not my Weekend (Rona Segal) Edna and the Dog (Danielle Wiesman)
The Israeli Video Art and Experimental Film Competition
High Alert (Hadar Saifan) Carousel (Guy Hamiel) Child (Yaron Attar) A Word Required (Lyri Milo) Spirits of War (Moti Brecher) Escape Will Get You Tonight (Noa Simhayof Shahaf) Orientations (Daniel Kiczales)
