Israeli Film Festival | Celebrating 30

Opening Weekend

Saturday, March 7th – Sunday, March 8th

Cabaret Total | Opening Night | Saturday, March 7th at 7:30 pm at The Weitzman

Israel | 2024 | 91 minutes | Drama | Hebrew with English subtitles | Director: Roy Assaf

A bold, darkly funny musical satire about performance, power, and the cost of saying what you really think. A struggling actor returns from reserve duty to his dusty southern hometown, caught between a fluorescent-lit high school classroom and a worn community-theater stage. By day, he teaches drama to disengaged teens; by night, he performs in an obscure cabaret. When a raw, off-script moment in class is filmed and goes viral, he’s suddenly branded traitor, symbol, and target at once – and the tiny stage he once treated as rehearsal space becomes the only place he can still breathe and speak freely. Blurring lines between spectacle and resistance, Cabaret Total uses songs, skits, and sharply choreographed chaos to mirror a society on edge, where every joke can be a provocation and every applause break feels like a vote.

Unraveling UNRWA | Tuesday, March 10 at 7 pm at Narberth Theater

Germany, Israel | 2026 | 75 minutes | Documentary | English | Director: Duki Darwish Dror

In the aftermath of the October 7th attacks and allegations of UNRWA staff involvement in kidnappings, the agency faced global fallout and Israel’s legislative move to sever ties amid Gaza’s deepening humanitarian crisis. Many donor nations temporarily suspended funding.

The film traces UNRWA’s 75-year evolution, from its post-1948 origins as a temporary relief organization for Palestine refugees to its pivotal and often controversial role amidst the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It unravels new and surprising insights, offering an inside look at the only UN agency dedicated to a single group of people. With its three-year mandate expiring in December 2025, the UN General Assembly faces a crucial vote on whether to extend UNRWA’s mission.

Oxygen | Thursday, March 12 at 7 pm at Narberth Theater

Israel | 2025 | 95 minutes | Drama | Hebrew with English subtitles | Director: Netalie Braun

A poetry-loving elementary school teacher and single mother eagerly awaits her son’s army discharge and the long-dreamed-of trip to India they planned together. On the long-awaited day, a soldier is abducted on the Lebanese border and a new war breaks out. Her war-traumatized father begins to deteriorate, and her son calls to say that all discharges have been canceled. She sets out on a determined mission to bring him home, confronting an indifferent system and her own rising panic.

When her son suddenly appears at the door, she is overjoyed – until she discovers he is only home for one night to demand that she stop interfering. Her world collapses when she learns he volunteered to fight and that discharges were never truly frozen. As their once symbiotic bond unravels and he returns to the border, she finds herself trapped between a broken father and a son racing toward danger. In a final, desperate attempt to stop the tragedy, she takes matters into her own hands just as he is about to cross into Lebanon.

Heaven and Earth | Saturday, March 14 at 8 pm at The Weitzman

Israel | 2025 | 106 minutes | Drama | Hebrew with English subtitles | Director: Ruby Duenyas

A seemingly secure Israeli family life is shaken when a routine medical test returns impossible results. What begins as a strange clinical anomaly quickly unravels into a web of contradictions, exposing hidden tensions and long-buried questions about the past.

As the search for answers deepens, memories, documents, and family stories no longer align. Heaven & Earth blends mystery and intimate drama to explore how far people will go to protect those they love – and what happens when the truth can no longer be ignored.

Always Together | Tuesday, March 17 at 7 pm at Har Zion Temple

Israel | 2025 | 77 minutes | Documentary | Hebrew with English subtitles | Director: Paz Schwartz

In the wake of the October 7th attacks, a 12th grade class from the Nofei HaBsor high school on Israel’s southern border is evacuated and scattered across the country. Refusing to lose each other on the brink of graduation, they band together and persuade the Ministry of Education to create a one-of-a-kind boarding school for them in Ein Gedi, by the Dead Sea.

Always Together follows their extraordinary senior year in this temporary refuge – grieving friends and family, navigating trauma far from home, falling in and out of love, and rebuilding a sense of normal life. With intimate access to their classrooms, dorms, and late-night conversations, the film offers a moving portrait of resilience, friendship, and what it means to grow up when the ground beneath you has shifted.

An Evening of Short Films | Thursday, March 19 at 7 pm at Narberth Theater

Join IFF for an evening of five short films, each one a distinct voice and story, together creating a rich and surprising journey on screen. Discover sharp and moving snapshots of life in contemporary Israel.

Join IFF for Q&A with Peter Decherney following the films. Peter Decherney is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, fine art photographer, and author. He holds the Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Chair in the Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is Professor of Cinema & Media Studies and Director of the Penn Global Documentary Institute. Peter is the author or editor of seven books including Hollywood’s Copyright Wars: From Edison to the Internet, Hollywood: A Very Short Introduction, and Endless Exodus: The Jewish Experience in Ethiopia, a book of photography. His many films include the award-winning Days Between Rest and The Cave Synagogue chronicling pivotal moments in the history of the Uganda’s Abayudaya community; Dreaming of Jerusalem (co-directed with Sosena Solomon), a Discovery+ original about the Jewish community in Ethiopia, and Postigo Express, the story of Basque photojournalist Fernando Postigo. You can find more about him at decherney.org.

The Eulogy 

Israel | 2025 | 21 minutes | Hebrew with English subtitles | Director: Moran Rosenblatt

Gil’s money and titles have no meaning when his brother, who may lack possessions but is rich in his ability to love, writes a beautiful eulogy for their late mother, a eulogy Gil wishes he had composed. Technical difficulties delay the funeral, and Gil attempts to outshine his brother, but is forced to confront the sad truth about himself and his relationship with his mother. Consumed by shame and envy, Gil is determined to become the son he longs to be.

The Holiness 

Israel | 2025 | 16 minutes | Drama | Hebrew with English subtitles | Director: Daniel Moreshet

A religious Jewish couple secretly indulge in a secular lifestyle behind closed doors. They meticulously maintain their double life, upholding traditions in public while embracing forbidden pleasures in private. But their carefully constructed world shatters when their teenage daughter unexpectedly walks in on them watching TV on Shabbat – the holiest night in Judaism. The shocking discovery forces them to confront not only their daughter’s reaction but also their own fears, desires, and the fragile balance they’ve struggled to maintain. As the weight of secrecy threatens to crush them, they must decide what – if anything – is worth saving.

Frequency

Israel | 2025 | 16 minutes | Drama | Hebrew with English subtitles | Director: Mindi Ehrlich

Dasi, a young woman who has left the ultra-Orthodox world, seeks out her beloved son Zeevi, from whom she has been estranged since her departure from the faith. Hoping to share a meaningful moment, she meets him in a secluded park to celebrate his birthday and gives him a pair of walkie-talkies as a gift. But as their brief reunion unfolds, the depth of the alienation and the ideological indoctrination Zeevi has absorbed becomes heartbreakingly clear. This is an intimate story of maternal love, identity, and the heavy price of choosing a different path.

We Have Sinned Before You

Israel | 2025 | Drama | Hebrew with English subtitles | Director: Ifat Nener Orgad

On Yom Kippur, an Israeli family disconnects from all electronic devices – the one day each year they truly go offline. When one member suggests a simple game to pass the time – everyone must ask forgiveness for something they have done, and everyone must accept – she does not anticipate the secrets and tensions that this innocent ritual will unleash.

More Than Friends

Israel | 2025 | 19 minutes | Drama | Hebrew with English subtitles | Omri Laron

A quirky lesbian mom discovers a love letter written by her 11-year-old son to another boy. Concerned for her son’s social status, she crashes into a birthday party to keep a close eye on him.

Closing Weekend

Saturday, March 21st – Sunday, March 22nd

Pink Lady | Saturday, March 21 at 8 pm at The Weitzman

Israel | 2024 | 106 minutes | Drama | Hebrew with English subtitles | Director: Nir Bergman

A young ultra-Orthodox couple in Jerusalem see their carefully ordered life implode when an anonymous envelope arrives, containing photos of the husband kissing another man. What begins as a private shock quickly spirals into a nightmare of blackmail by a local gang that terrorizes their tight-knit community. As the threats mount and their financial security, social standing, and sense of faith come under fire, the couple is forced to confront buried desires, rigid norms, and the limits of loyalty. Balancing humor, tenderness, and pain, Pink Lady follows their struggle to protect their love while everything around them demands silence and sacrifice.

Join IFF for a Q&A with Yakir Englander following the movie. 

Dr. Yakir Englander is the Senior National Director of Leadership programs and Senior Scholar at the Israeli-American Council. Originally from the Hasidic community of Israel, Englander left Ultra-Orthodoxy and was subsequently drafted to the Israeli military, where he served in an elite unit tasked with the identification of human remains. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in Jewish philosophy and gender studies. Dr. Englander has seamlessly integrated his roles as an activist, Jewish leader, and educator with his academic research. He is a Fulbright scholar and has held visiting professorships at prestigious institutions including Northwestern University, Rutgers University, the Hebrew University, the Shalom Hartman Institute, and Harvard Divinity School. He lives in an intentional community in West Philadelphia and is supporting changes in the Ultra-Orthodox World.

Sapir | Sunday, March 22 at 4 pm at The Weitzman

Israel | 2024 | 70 minutes | Documentary | Hebrew with English subtitles | Director: Liran Atzmor

A rising star in Israel’s Premier League, a gifted referee who once lived and worked in total secrecy, stands at the center of Sapir. The film follows a trailblazing trans woman referee as she fights to keep her place on the pitch while undergoing gender transition, juggling hormone treatments, media scrutiny, and the unforgiving physical demands of professional soccer.

With intimate access to her life on and off the field, Sapir captures locker-room banter, stadium pressure, family moments, and moments of doubt and joy, revealing both the cost and the power of living openly. In a world where every whistle is judged, the film offers a moving, human portrait of courage, visibility, and the changing face of global sport.

Light bites will be served following the screening. 

Love, Statistically Speaking | Sunday, March 22 at 7 pm at The Weitzman

Israel | 2025 | 102 minutes | Comedy | Hebrew with English subtitles | Director: Amichai Greenberg

An 80-year-old retired actuary lives by rules, routines, and risk calculations – until the day he loses both his wife and her insurance money at the neighborhood swimming pool. Forced to team up with his free-spirited, artist granddaughter, he’s dragged into a chaotic, comic investigation among the pool’s eccentric regulars. As they chase suspects, swap theories, and clash over everything from money to meaning, their unlikely partnership slowly softens old wounds. Love, Statistically Speaking is a warm, witty reminder that you can chart probabilities all you want, but you can’t predict love, family, or the strange ways they bring us back to life.