LGBTQ Archives - Israel Film Center

The Secrets

OIOD_admin — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 16:36:35 +0000

In The Secrets, two brilliant young women discover their own voices in a repressive Orthodox culture where females are forbidden to sing, let alone speak out. Naomi, the studious, devoutly religious daughter of a prominent rabbi, convinces her father to postpone her marriage for a year so that she might study at a Jewish seminary for women in the ancient Kabbalistic seat of Safed. Naomi’s quest for individuality takes a defiant turn when she befriends Michelle, a free-spirited and equally headstrong fellow student. When the pair encounters a mysterious, ailing foreigner with a disturbing past named Anouk (the iconic French actress Fanny Ardant) they begin a risky journey into forbidden realms. In the hopes of easing her suffering, Naomi and Michelle secretly lead Anouk through a series of Kabbalistic cleansing rituals. The process opens up overwhelming new horizons for the girls who find themselves caught between the rigid male establishment they grew up in, and the desire to be true to themselves, no matter the cost.

The post The Secrets appeared first on Israel Film Center.

The Swimmer

noam8080@gmail.com — Mon, 02 May 2022 15:38:29 +0000

Erez, a rising Israeli swimming star, arrives at training camp—where the top swimmer gets a chance to compete at the Olympics. Despite being warned to avoid friendship with other competitors, he becomes enchanted with the beautiful and talented Nevo. Erez treads the waters between his lust for Nevo and his desire to win.

The post The Swimmer appeared first on Israel Film Center.

Kiss Me Kosher

noam8080@gmail.com — Mon, 24 May 2021 12:29:53 +0000

A subversive love story about clashing cultures and families, Kiss Me Kosher is a romantic misadventure crossing all borders. When two generations of Israeli women fall for a German woman and a Palestinian man, chaos follows. What happens when lovers don’t fit together but do belong together?

The post Kiss Me Kosher appeared first on Israel Film Center.

Yossi

OIOD_admin — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 18:47:03 +0000

Yossi, a closeted gay doctor, has his quiet world turned upside down when a woman from his past shows up. Their emotionally charged reunion causes Yossi to leave Tel Aviv and he finally wants to awaken from his emotional slumber.

Sequel to Yossi & Jagger.

The post Yossi appeared first on Israel Film Center.

Cupcakes

OIOD_admin — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 18:40:28 +0000

A group of friends in a Tel Aviv suburb get together to watch Universong, a Eurovision-like television song contest. They’d all like to forget the stress of their daily lives. Yael is a former beauty queen who is unfulfilled by her job as a corporate lawyer; Dana is a stressed-out aide to a cabinet minister and timidly tries to please her traditional father; Anat , has a successful bakery but an unsuccessful marriage; Keren is a shy blogger; Efrat is a frustrated singer- songwriter whose career has stalled; and Ofer is a nursery-school teacher who is upset that his boyfriend, a spokes-model for his family’s famous brand of hummus, is still in the closet and won’t publicly acknowledge their romance.
When the night of the Universong final rolls around, they gather to watch and are depressed by the lifelessness of the Israeli entry, a parody of many recent offerings, a flashy, grating song about “amour.” After they realize that Anat is distraught over the crisis in her marriage, they compose a song to cheer her up. As a lark, Ofer enters their cellphone video of it in next year’s contest, and it becomes Israel’s entry.

The post Cupcakes appeared first on Israel Film Center.

The Cakemaker

OIOD_admin — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 15:25:30 +0000

Thomas, a young German baker, is having an affair with Oren, an Israeli married man who has frequent business visits in Berlin. When Oren dies in a car crash in Israel, Thomas travels to Jerusalem seeking answers regarding his death. Under a fabricated identity, Thomas infiltrates the life of Anat, his lover’s newly-widowed wife, who owns a small Café in downtown Jerusalem. Thomas starts to work for her and create German cakes and cookies that bring life into her Café. Thomas finds himself involved in Anat’s life in a way far beyond his anticipation, and to protect the truth, he will stretch his lie to a point of no return.

The post The Cakemaker appeared first on Israel Film Center.

Yossi & Jagger

OIOD_admin

Yossi (Ohad Knoller) commands a company of soldiers in the snow-covered mountains near Lebanon. In secrecy, he leads a passionate romantic relationship with his second-in-command officer, Lior (Yehuda Levi), who is called Jagger by everyone for his rock star-like handsomeness. The pair, Yossi and Jagger, lead a loving, yet secret life together, venturing off to be alone and open with one another. One day, a colonel (Sharon Raginiano) arrives at the base with two female soldiers, one of whom he immediately sleeps with in the bunker. The other one, Yaeli (Aya Koren, credited as Aya Steinovitz), is very interested in Jagger, while she refuses the sexual advances of Ofir (Assi Cohen), who tries to make clear to her that Jagger is not particularly interested in her. The colonel is there to supervise a night-time ambush, of which Yossi is resentful because of the full moon, and also because he fears for his soldiers’ safety. And indeed Jagger is fatally injured that night, dying in the arms of his lover, who only now is able to articulate his love for him. At the funeral reception at Jagger’s parents’ house, Jagger’s mother mistakes Yaeli for his girlfriend. She laments that she knew very little about her son, including his favorite song, which only Yossi is able to tell her.

The post Yossi & Jagger appeared first on Israel Film Center.

Round Trip

OIOD_admin

Working from a script by Noa Grinberg, Shahar Rosen’s Round Trip stars Anat Waxman as Nurit, a bus driver who becomes so dissatisfied with her dead-end marriage that she takes her two children and moves to Tel Aviv. She soon learns that even though she has gotten away from her husband, her life is no more fulfilling. One day, Nurit hires Nigerian Mushidi (Nthati Moshesh) as a maid. Soon the pair become friends — and then something more. Their new relationship causes problems between Nurit and her family.

The post Round Trip appeared first on Israel Film Center.

Tied Hands

OIOD_admin

The film tells the story of a sensitive and complex relationship between a mother and her ailing son. Like in Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale “The Loveliest Rose in the World” where a prince must search for a rose to save his mother, who is dying in bed, “Tied Hands” sees a reversal of roles as a desperate mother goes out to find marijuana, to ease her son’s pain. In her, turbulent journey in the streets of Tel-Aviv, old truths from her past come back to life and threaten to break down a wall of denials behind which, she’s been hiding all her life.

The post Tied Hands appeared first on Israel Film Center.

Watch Over Me

OIOD_admin

On completing his training in a secret elite army unit, Eitan is taken out by mates from the unit to celebrate. During a night of drinking in Tel Aviv he learns things about the unit and about himself that shake his world. An encounter with Shahar, who lives the way Eitan never dared, gives him a chance for a new beginning. But when he tries to go with the change, he discovers the ultimate price of his previous choices.

The post Watch Over Me appeared first on Israel Film Center.