The 43nd Jerusalem Film Festival has announced its program of Israeli films, which will include 6 films in the Haggiag Competition for Feature Films, 5 films in the Diamond Competition for Documentary Films, 16 films in the Diamond Competition for Short Films, 9 films in the Israeli Video Art and Experimental Film Competition.
The Jerusalem Film Festival will take place from July 9 – 19, 2026. The full program and ticket information will be available on the festival website.
Haggiag Competition for Best Israeli Feature
I Can’t Say No to Myself
Directed by Hadas Ben Aroya
An Israeli dancer and a German poet fall madly in love in Berlin. When a crisis disrupts their connection, their attempt to hold on to one another leads them to a place they never imagined they would reach. World premiere.
Amal
Directed by David Ofek and Nahd Bashir
In a chaotic world full of violence, Amal embarks on the fight of her life to save her son from his fate and put an end to the cycle of revenge in the village. But the war of the clans gets out of control, and Amal herself is drawn into the bloody cycle. World premiere.
The Wedding Entertainer (The Tale of Moishe Badhan)
Directed by Gidi Dar
The story of the greatest wedding entertainer in Jerusalem, whose addiction to alcohol destroyed his career, and his struggle to regain his past glories. Israeli premiere.
Where To?
Directed by Assaf Machnes
Hassan, a 55-year-old Palestinian Uber driver, drives partygoers through the endless Berlin nights. When a young, lost, Israeli returns to his cab time and again it seems as though all roads lead in the same direction. Israeli premiere.
Heart of Gold
Directed by Efrat Corem
Mali Azulay, a 38-year-old who works in Ashkelon as a ticket inspector, finds an abandoned baby on a bus and takes her home. Her brother and partner want her to hand the baby over to the authorities, but she has become attached. The baby’s presence awakens a forgotten traumatic abandonment that she had experienced in the past and disrupts her current relationships. World premiere.
What is to Come
Directed by Ruthy Pribar
After a near-death experience, Yehudit escapes to Eilat to begin anew. There, in a new city, she discovers possibilities that she never dared imagine for herself. Israeli premiere.
The Diamond Competition for Israeli Documentary
Sarah by Shir Huri-Abu
269 by Keren Yehezkeli Goldstein and Noam Stolerman
I Am Neo by Yael Abecassis
Find Me, Okay? by Yula Gidron
Good Morning Gaza by Hanan Brandes and Matan Sacofsky
Special Screenings
There will be a festive world premiere screening of David Fisher’s documentary The Survivor in a Tuxedo: Tracing Elie Wiesel. An intimate portrait of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, that examines the multi-layered transformation of Elie Wiesel from Holocaust survivor to American moral icon, exploring the complexities and nuances that accompanied his rise to prominence.
There will be special screenings of digitally restored prints of Uri Barbash’s Beyond the Walls (1984) as well as the short films Crows (1986) by Ayelet Menahemi, and Big Girl (Yalda Gdola 1987) by Nirit Yaron.
