{"id":55257,"date":"2025-09-21T15:01:36","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T12:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=55257"},"modified":"2025-09-21T15:01:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T12:01:36","slug":"haifa-international-film-festival-2025-international-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=55257","title":{"rendered":"Haifa International Film Festival 2025: International Films"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Pale View of Hills\/Photo courtesy of PR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 41st<\/sup> Haifa International Film Festival will take place from October 5 \u2013 14, 2025 and features a diverse and intriguing program of international films that reflects the power of cinema to foster understanding of ourselves and the world, connecting people, and providing healing and hope in these troubled times.<\/p>\n

Special Events:<\/h4>\n

There will be a special screening of the documentary The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue<\/em>, in the presence of the director Barry Avrich. The film follows Noam Tibon\u2019s heroic journey to rescue his family and others following the October 7th<\/sup> massacre, and merges new interviews with footage from the day itself, including footage from Hamas bodycams. The film held its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the People\u2019s Choice Award, Documentary.<\/p>\n

Award-winning composer Erran Baron Cohen will be a guest of the festival and conduct a master class. Baron Cohen has collaborated with his brother Sacha Baron Cohen, and composed the scores for Borat<\/em>, Br\u00fcno<\/em>, The Dictator,<\/em> Grimsby<\/em> and more. In addition to composing for film, television, and musical theatre, Baron Cohen has released two albums with his band, Zohar, as well as a solo album, Songs in the Key of Hanukkah. The master class will be moderated by Yonatan Bar Giyora, with guests Idan Alterman and Alon Gur Arieh.<\/p>\n

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The Lion King\/Photo courtesy of PR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Special screenings at the festival include some fun nostalgia. The Lion King<\/em> will be screened accompanied by a live performance of the soundtrack by the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Yaron Gottfried. Appealing to a different audience, will be the celebration of the cult classic mockumentary This is Spinal Tap<\/em> (1984), with a screening of the film in a double feature with Rob Reiner\u2019s sequel Spinal Tap II: The End Continues<\/em>. The wonderful animator Hayao Miyazaki\u2019s first feature film as a director \u2013 The Castle of Cagliostro<\/em>, will be screened for the first time in Israel. Marking the 40th<\/sup> anniversary of the timeless film, there will be a screening of a digitally restored version of Back to the Future<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Back to the Future\/Photo courtesy of PR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Carmel \u2013 The International Cinema Competition<\/h4>\n

A Pale View of Hills<\/em>, directed by Kei Ishikawa, is based on Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro\u2019s debut novel. The film moves through two timelines \u2013 Japan in the 1950s and England in the 1980s. The film follows Etsuko (Suzu Hirose) in Nagasaki as she decides to give up a career in music to be a full-time mother to her child. In the 1980s, the years have wrought many changes in Etsuko\u2019s life (now portrayed by Yoh Yoshida), and her journalist daughter Niki (Camilla Aiko) seeks to understand her mother\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

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Orphan\/Photo courtesy of PR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Orphan<\/em>, directed by L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Nemes (Son of Saul), is the festival\u2019s opening film and Hungary\u2019s selection for Best International Feature at the 98th Academy Awards. Set in 1957, in the ruins of Budapest after the violent suppression of the Hungarian uprising against the Communist regime. Andor (Bojtorj\u00e1n Barabas) is a Jewish boy living with his mother Kl\u00e1ra (Andrea Waskovics), who tells him of his father\u2019s heroism during the war. But when Berend Mih\u00e1ly (Gr\u00e9gory Gadebois),\u00a0a brutish man, begins to visit the family home, the tales begin to unravel, and the truth of Andor\u2019s mother\u2019s survival is revealed.<\/p>\n

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Living the Land\/Photo courtesy of PR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Living the Land<\/em>, directed by Huo Meng, was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival. Set in 1991, the film follows the changes taking place in rural China through the experiences of 10-year-old Chuang (Wang Shang). As technological advances alter rural life, Chuang\u2019s parents move to the city to seek work, while Chuang remains in the village to be raised by his grandmother.<\/p>\n

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Dreams\/Photo courtesy of PR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dreams<\/em>, directed by Dag Johan Haugerud, was awarded the Golden Bear at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival. Part of Haugerud\u2019s trilogy, which includes the films Sex<\/em> and Love<\/em>, it explores human relationships, sexuality, and social norms. The complete trilogy will be screened at the Haifa Film Festival.<\/p>\n

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Mother’s Baby\/Photo courtesy of PR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mother\u2019s Baby<\/em>, directed by Johanna Moder, is a thriller crafted from the fears and doubts of new motherhood. Julia (Marie Leuenberger) is a 40-year-old orchestra conductor who longs for a child. She and her husband conceive through fertility treatments, but once the child is born, she experiences difficulty connecting to the infant, as well as paranoia.<\/p>\n

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Silent Friend\/Photo courtesy of PR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Silent Friend<\/em>, directed by Ildik\u00f3 Enyedi, is a film with an unusual protagonist: an ancient gingko tree in the botanical garden of a university town in Germany. The tree is at the center of three narratives in the film, that take place, respectively, in 1908, 1972, and 2020. The film held its world premiere at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, where it was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize, and Marcello Mastroianni Award for the actor Luna Wedler.<\/p>\n

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Mother\/Photo courtesy of PR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mother<\/em>, directed by Teona Struger Mitevska in her English language feature debut, held its world premiere in the Orizzonti section at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival. Noomi Rapace stars as Mother Theresa, in a fictional account of several days in her life in Kolkata, India, when she decided to establish her own religious order, the Missionaries of Charity.<\/p>\n

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No Other Choice\/Photo courtesy of PR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

No Other Choice<\/em>, directed by Park Chan-wook, is a black comedy thriller based on the novel The Ax by Donald Westlake. The film held its world premiere at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival. Lee Byung-hun (The Squid Games) stars as Man-soo, an expert in the paper industry, content with his work and with his family. But when he is laid off, everything changes. The film is South Korea\u2019s selection for Best International Feature at the 98th Academy Awards.<\/p>\n

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The Disappearance of Josef Mengele\/Photo courtesy of PR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Disappearance of Josef Mengele<\/em>, directed by Kirill Serebrennikov, held its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, and is based on the eponymous non-fiction novel by Olivier Guez. August Diehl stars as Josef Mengele, and the film follows the Nazi doctor\u2019s life in the years after WWII, when he lived in Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil, hiding from prosecution.<\/p>\n

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Woman and Child\/Photo courtesy of PR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Woman and Child<\/em>, directed by Saeed Roustayi, held its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. In this drama, Mahnaz (Parinaz Izadyar), a widowed nurse, is about to marry Hamid, as she struggles with her rebellious son Aliyar. One day, an accident changes everything.<\/p>\n

The Haifa International Film Festival takes place with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports \u2013 Israeli Film Council, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Regional Cooperation, and the Haifa Municipality. The festival\u2019s Artistic Director is Yaron Shamir, and it is produced by Ethos \u2013 The Haifa Municipality Art, Culture and Sports Association Company. The full program and ticket information will be available on the Haifa Film Festival website:\u00a0https:\/\/www.haifaff.co.il\/eng<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 41st Haifa International Film Festival will take place from October 5 \u2013 14, 2025 and features a diverse and intriguing program of international films that reflects the power of cinema to foster understanding of ourselves and the world, connecting people, and providing healing and hope in these troubled times. Special Events: There will be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":55258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[100,96,203],"class_list":["post-55257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-festival","tag-film","tag-haifa-international-film-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}