The 17th Other Israel Film Festival will take place in person in New York at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan and virtually November 2–9, 2023.
The festival will open with the Tribeca Film Festival-selected film: The Future by Noam Kaplan, which through a futuristic story of a murder investigation brings a Palestinian and Israeli woman together. The film also sets the ground for the Democracy Summit as it brings to light the question of the future of Israeli society. The Festival will close with the World Premiere of The Other by Joy Sela, a film that explores Palestinian and Israeli relations through creative individuals.
The festival, the only American film festival focused on both Israeli and Palestinian cinema, presents over a dozen feature-length premiere films, two TV series, and its first-ever two-day symposium: the Other Israel Democracy Summit. The Democracy Summit will host conversations with world-renowned experts and filmmakers relating to the unprecedented democracy movement in Israel.
Other highlights include the NY Premiere of the Palestinian Academy Award selection: Alam by Firas Khoury, telling the story of Palestinian youth choosing to become politically engaged, as well as a New York Premiere of the first Syrian-Druze narrative film made in Israel: The Taste of Apples is Red by Ehab Tarabieh, giving an insight into this complex community through the story of a religious leader whose brother returns after many years in exile.
Other Israel will host the New York Premiere of Israel’s 2024 Academy Award select: Seven Blessings by Ayelet Menahemi, about a family uniting at a wedding and confronting the past.
The festival will also include the premieres of two hit TV series coming out of Israel’s blossoming industry. The International Premiere of East Side by Evgeny Ruman is a thriller uncovering the Jewish population in the Arab sector of East Jerusalem. Madrasa is a comedy by Sayed Kashua, directed by Guri Alfi about a bilingual Arab/Israeli school and the uncomfortable interactions of the parents.
“The quality of the films continues to go up, and we are overwhelmed by the selections from this year,” shares Carole Zabar, Founder of the Other Israel Film Festival. “In such a conflicted time, this is the moment for our community here in New York to make a statement and be a part of a movement.”
“I’m inspired by this year’s lineup of films,” says Isaac Zablocki, Executive Director of the Other Israel Film Festival and MMJCCM Senior Director of Film Programs. “This is a time for change in Israel, and we are proud to bring these films to New York and ignite the fire that has already started in Israel.”
2023 OTHER ISRAEL FILM FESTIVAL LINEUP
FILMS
Opening Night: The Future
Dir. Noam Kaplan
Narrative | Israel | 2023 | 80 min
A world-renowned Israeli scientist has created a groundbreaking algorithm designed to prevent future violent attacks. When her algorithm fails, she begins meeting with the young Palestinian woman who assassinated the Israeli Minister of Space and Tourism. Their intensive conversations raise questions about their pasts.
Savoy
Dir. Zohar Wagner
Docudrama | Israel/Germany/France | 2022 | 78 min
New York Premiere
In this docudrama, Zohar Wagner tells the story of Kochava Levy (Dana Ivgy), the forgotten heroine of the deadly 1975 Hotel Savoy terror attack in Tel Aviv, who formed an unlikely connection with one of the attackers.
Madrasa (TV Series)
مدرسة / מדרסה
Dir. Guri Alfi
Narrative | Israel | 2023 | 20 ep x 25 min
New York Premiere
A comedy television series set at a bilingual Jewish-Arab high school in Israel, where students are learning how to break down age-old walls of suspicion, racism, and hostility.
East Side (TV Series)
איסט סייד
Dir. Evgeny Ruman
Narrative | Israel | 2023 | 10 ep x 45 min
International Premiere
Israeli Momi (Yehuda Levi) brokers sketchy property deals between the Arab residents of East Jerusalem and the right-wing Jewish groups trying to take over. He’ll do anything to make a deal—but not because of right-wing ideology.
Innocence
Dir. Guy Davidi
Documentary | Denmark/Israel/Finland/Iceland | 2022 | 100 min
New York Premiere
Young Israelis know that army service awaits them when they turn 18. Diary excerpts of young people who died while in service express their fears and struggles with the imposed violence that leaves no room for their own principles. This documentary takes us inside a militarized childhood and adolescence.
Mediterranean Fever
Dir. Maha Haj
Waleed, a Palestinian living in Haifa with his wife and two children, is a struggling writer with depression. When he meets new neighbor Jalal, a small-time crook, the two men form an unexpected friendship and become inseparable. This dark comedy won a prize for best screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival.
Children of Peace
اولاد السلام ילדי השלום
Dir. Maayan Schwartz
Documentary | Israel | 2022 | 58 min
East Coast Premiere
A group of children were brought up in a utopian social experiment in Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, the only community in the world where Palestinians and Israelis chose to live together in co-existence. Now adults, these “children of peace” face a reality of political turmoil, war, and societal segregation.
The Checkpoint Women: Memories
שומרות הסף: זכרונות
Dir. Eliezer Yaari
Documentary | Israel | 2023 | 60 min
International Premiere
The story of the Israeli women of Machsom Watch (Checkpoint Watch), who stood at the checkpoints between Israel and the West Bank to safeguard the human rights of Palestinians. Their courageous documentation gives an inside look at daily life under occupation.
Seven Blessings
Dir. Ayelet Menahemi
Narrative | Israel | 2023 | 111 min
Israel’s official entry for the 2024 Academy Awards.
New York Premiere
Marie was just two years old when her mother, who was blessed with many children, gave her to her barren sister, a common custom practiced by Moroccan Jews back in the day. Forty years later, in the 1990s in Israel, Marie is walked down the aisle by both of her “mothers”. Her large family prepares for the Seven Blessings tradition, a week of festive meals in honor of the bride. But Marie still harbors feelings of anger and pain. Along these seven days, old wounds and secrets surface and the celebration turns into a bittersweet explosion of food, drama and belated forgiveness.
Mourning in Lod
Dir. Hilla Medalia
Documentary | US | 2023 | 73 min
New York City Premiere
This documentary follows the fates of three families that are inextricably intertwined in a vicious cycle of violence in the Israeli city of Lod, where Israelis and Palestinians live side by side.
Alam
Dir. Firas Khoury
Narrative | France/Tunisia/Palestine/Saudi Arabia/Qatar | 2022 | 109 min
New York Premiere
In a Palestinian town in Israel, Tamer and his friends lead a typical high school student’s life until the arrival of Maysaa’. Tamer falls for her and is drawn into her activism, joining her in an operation to covertly raise the Palestinian flag and peacefully disrupt Israeli celebrations.
Israelism
Dir. Erin Axelman + Sam Eilertsen
Documentary | US | 2023 | 84 min
When two young American Jews raised to unconditionally love Israel witness the brutal way Israel treats Palestinians, their lives take sharp left turns. They join a movement of young American Jews battling the old guard to redefine Judaism’s relationship with Israel, revealing a deepening generational divide over modern Jewish identity.
A Gaza Weekend
Dir. Basil Khalil
Narrative | UK/Palestinian Territories | 2022 | 90 min
In this comedy, Israel locks down to prevent the spread of a deadly virus. A British-Israeli couple entrusts two Palestinian street merchants to get them out of the country via the Gaza Strip—which has remained mysteriously untouched by the virus.
Egypt, a Love Song
מצרים, שיר אהבה
Dir. Iris Zaki
Docudrama | Israel | 2022 | 55 min
Souad Zaki was a popular Jewish-Arab singer in 1940s Egypt. But after her husband left her, she was forced to flee to Israel and make ends meet as a domestic cleaner. Directed by Souad’s granddaughter Iris, this docudrama tells Souad’s dramatic story that crosses nations, cultures, and generations.
The Taste of Apples Is Red
Dir. Ehab Tarabieh
Narrative | Israel/Germany | 2022 | 83 min
New York Premiere
In the Druze mountain villages between Syria and Israel, Kamel, a respected sheik, must make an impossible decision between family and duty when his estranged brother returns to the Golan Heights after 47 years in exile.
Closing Night: The Other
Dir. Joy Sela
Documentary | US | 2023 | 104 min
World Premiere
A documentary exploring the complex relationship between Israelis and Palestinians. Featuring accounts from people living within the realities of the conflict and the occupation, this film offers a powerful, nuanced look into entrenched divisions and shared humanity.
Other Israel Democracy Summit
Israel is facing a democratic crisis that has unleashed the biggest protest movement the country has ever seen. Since January, there have been massive weekly demonstrations against the government’s plan to overhaul its judicial system, annex the Palestinian territories, and curtail the rights of minorities. Join us for discussions and events on the future of equality and the fight for democracy in Israel.