The 43nd edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival has announced its exciting lineup of international films! These include major award-winners from the world’s leading film festivals, including Fjord, winner of the Palme d’Or, and Yellow Letters, winner of the Golden Bear, as well as excellent films from San Sebastián, Toronto, Tallinn, SXSW, Tribeca, and Rotterdam, among others. Narrative, documentary, and experimental films will be screened in a range of sections – the International Competition, International Debuts, In the Spirit of Freedom, and the Chantal Akerman Competition, as well as Masters, Panorama, Gala, and Intersections. The festival will take place from July 9 to July 19, 2026. Films will be screened at the Jerusalem Cinematheque and Lev Smadar. The full program will be available June 26th on the Jerusalem Film Festival website.
Selected Highlights from the International Program:
Fjord – the new film by Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) won the Palme d’Or at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, as well as the on and won the Palme d’Or, François Chalais Prize, FIPRESCI Prize, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, and Prix de la Citoyenneté. The film stars Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World, Sentimental Value). Inspired by true event, the film depicts a conservative Romanian-Norwegian family who move to the mother’s hometown in a remote Norwegian village and come under critical scrutiny when they are suspected of disturbing behavior with their children.
Yellow Letters – by İlker Çatak (The Teacher’s Lounge) won the Golden Bear at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival. The film is centered on Derya (Özgü Namal) and Aziz (Tansu Biçer), an artist couple who lose their jobs and home when they are targeted by the state.
Fatherland – directed by Paweł Pawlikowski, who won the Award for Best Director at the 79th Cannes Film Festival. Nobel Prize-winning writer Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) returns to Germany at the height of the Cold War in 1949, after 16 years of exile in the US. He embarks on a road trip across Germany with his daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller), actress, writer and rally driver.
The Black Ball (La bola negra) – directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi who won the Best Director Award at the 79th Cannes Film Festival. Inspired by one of Federico García Lorca’s last, unfinished, works, it tells the interconnected stories of three gay men living in different eras – 1932, 1937, and 2017.
Hercules Falling – directed by Christian Bonke, won Best Film in the First Feature Competition and the FIPRESCI Award at the 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. Dar Salim (The Covenent) stars as Youssef, a Danish soldier trying to heal from the trauma of war.
A New Dawn – the animated film by Yoshitoshi Shinomiya held its world premiere in the main competition at the 76th Berlin Film Festival. The Obinata firework factory is scheduled to be shutdown and a major road is planned to be extended directly through the premises. Keitaro has locked himself inside the closed factory for four years and has been making fireworks on his own. He is determined to unravel the mystery of the Shuhari, a mythical firework that represents the universe.
Paper Tiger – a crime drama written and directed by James Gray, it held its world premiere at the 79th Cannes Film Festival in the main competition. The film stars Adam Driverand Miles Teller, as brothers Gary and Irwin Pearl, who become entangled with the Russian mafia. Scarlett Johansson stars as Hester, Irwin’s wife.
The Dreamed Adventure – directed by Valeska Grisebach won the Jury Prize at the 79th Cannes Film Festival. Veska (Yana Radeva), an archaeologist, encounters an old acquaintance, Said (Syuleyman Alilov Letifov), and is drawn into a dangerous path.
A Man of His Time (Notre Salut) – written and directed by Emmanuel Marre, won the Best Screenplay Award at the 79th Cannes Film Festival. Set in Vichy France during World War II, it stars Swann Arlaud (Anatomy of a Fall) as Henri Marre.
Barrio Triste – the debut feature written and directed by Stillz (director of Bad Bunny’s Batanico) premiered at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in the Orizzonti program. Set in Medellín, Colombia, of the 1990s, the film follows a group of teenagers who film themselves.
Skateboarding is Not for Girls – written and directed by Dina Duma, premiered at the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival where it won the Nora Ephron Award. Set in Northern Macedonia, 11-year-old Adela (Efkjar Abaz) and her older sister Zara (Džefrina Jašari) must navigate between two different cultures. When financial difficulties lead their mother to consider marrying off Zara for payment, Adela determines to find another solution.
And Her Body Was Never Found – a thriller written and directed by Polaris Banks and Mor Cohen, partners in work and life, about a filmmaking couple who go camping to make a film about their arguments. The film premiered at SXSW.
The Samurai and the Prisoner – written and directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, it is based on the novel of same name by Honobu Yonezawa, and premiered in the main competition at the 79th Cannes Film Festival. A historical mystery set in Japan, the film follows Lord Murashige Araki who rises up against the tyrannical Nobunaga Oda, and finds himself besieged within the walls of his own castle, confronted with a series of mysterious crimes.
Broken Voices – written and directed by Ondřej Provazník, the film premiered at the 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2025. Kateřina Falbrová, was awarded a Special Jury Mention for her performance as Karolína, a twelve-year-old who joins a prestigious girls’ choir, where the strict guidance of demanding choirmaster Mácha begins to turn sinister.
Iron Boy – the animated film directed by Louis Clichy premiered at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize. The film follows 11-year-old Christophe, who tries to live up to his rigid and distant father on their family farm.
Robert Richardson: The White Devil – a documentary on American cinematographer Robert Richardson (Kill Bill, Platoon, Shutter Island), directed by Jana Hojdová. The film premiered at the 60th Karlovy Vary Film Festival.
Rose – a period drama set in the 17th century, directed by Markus Schleinzer. The film premiered at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival where Sandra Hüller was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance for her role as Rose, a woman disguised as a male soldier, who arrives in a secluded Protestant village and says she is the heir to a long-abandoned farmstead.
Ivan & Hadoum – written and directed by Ian de la Rosa, the film premiered at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Teddy Award for Best Film. Set in Almeria, Andalusia, the film follows trans man Iván (Silver Chicón), who falls in love with Moroccan-Spanish co-worker Hadoum (Herminia Loh).
Silent Flood – directed by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, the documentary premiered at IDFA, where it won the award for Best Cinematography – International Competition. Members of a pacifist, traditional religious community have been living in isolation along the Dniester River in western Ukraine. Their peaceful existence has often been disrupted by the fluctuating levels of the river, but since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, their way of life has come under pressure from a far greater threat.
Trial of Hein – a debut feature by Kai Stänicke, the film follows Hein (Paul Boche), who returns to his village on a small German island after an absence of 14 years, only to have no one recognize him.
Their Town – directed by Katie Aselton, the coming-of-age film premiered at SXSW. Aselton’s husband Mark Duplass, wrote the screenplay and their daughter, Ora Duplass, stars as Abby, a high school student whose boyfriend suddenly pulls out of the play in which they both were to perform.
My Wife Cries – written and directed by Angela Schanelec, the film premiered at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival. Vladimir Vulevic stars as Thomas, a 40-year-old crane operator who receives a call at work from his wife Carla (Agathe Bonitzer) who has been in a car crash.
Nagi Notes – written and directed by Koji Fukada, based on the play Tōkyō Notes by Oriza Hirata. Yuri (Shizuka Ishibashi), a Tokyo-based architect, travels to the rural village of Nagi, to visit her friend and former sister-in-law, Yoriko (Takako Matsu), a sculptor. The film premiered at the 79th Cannes Film Festival.
Another Day – written and directed by Jeanne Herry. Garance (Adèle Exarchopoulos), a struggling actress with an alcohol addiction, embarks on an eight-year journey of self-transformation. The film premiered at the 79th Cannes Film Festival in the main competition.
No Mercy – a documentary directed by Isa Willinger, examines the work of women directors, exploring whether women’s filmmaking is characterized by a particular harshness, through interviews with Céline Sciamma, Virginie Despentes, Ana Lily Amirpour, Alice Diop, Nina Menkes, Catherine Breillat, Apolline Traoré, Joey Soloway, and more.
The Christophers – directed by Steven Soderbergh, the film stars Ian McKellen as English painter Julian Sklar and Michaela Coel (I May Destroy You) as Lori Butler, a former art student who is hired as his assistant by Sklar’s scheming children, Barnaby and Sallie, who want her to find a series of paintings Sklar made in the 1990s, portraits of his lover at the time, called “The Christophers”.
In the Land of Arto – the debut feature directed by Tamara Stepanyan, opened the 78th Locarno Film Festival. The film stars Camille Cottin as Céline, who comes to Armenia to legalize the death of her husband Arto but discovers he has been lying to her about his identity. Zar Amir Ebrahimi (Tatami, Holy Spider) stars as Arsine, a local guide.
The Red Rocks (Les Roches Rouges) – the coming-of-age docudrama was written, edited and directed by Bruno Dumont, and premiered at the Director’s Fortnight at the 79th Cannes Film Festival. The film follows five-year-old Geo (Kaylon Lancel) and his friends as they play in the Mediterranean, swimming and jumping off cliffs.
The Day She Returns – the black and white film written and directed by South Korean director Hong Sang-soo, premiered in the Panorama section of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival. After having given up acting, an actress returns to the screen following her divorce and gives three interviews about the independent film in which she stars. Asked by her acting coach to re-enact the interviews – she cannot.
Noga – the documentary by Jono and Benji Bergmann that chronicles the rise of Israeli alternative pop singer Noga Erez, premiered at the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival.
