Set during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, Cup Final tells the story of Cohen, a young Israeli soldier who is kidnapped by a group of Palestinian fighters and held hostage during the conflict. The 1982 FIFA World Cup happens to be on during the invasion, and captor and captive’s mutual love of football (and support for the Italian team), helps break down the barriers of nationalism and historical baggage.
This charming, entertaining film, full of warm humor and sentiment, swept the recent Israeli Awards in almost every category. Three parallel stories of love unfold in Israel during the Gulf War with Iraq, as the people retreat into their homes and shelters to avoid the lethal scud attacks. Yana, a Russian immigrant abandoned by her husband, is pregnant and in debt, but when she moves into a flat with wedding photographer Eli and the two are forced into a sealed room from the fear of chemical weapons, sparks fly. At the same time, formal and businesslike Rosa finds love, while Alik and his wife learn the meaning of loving commitment and transform each other into better people.
Mona’s wedding day is slated to be one of the saddest days of her life. She knows that once she crosses the border between Israel and Syria to marry Syrian TV star Tallel, a man she has never even met, she will never be allowed back to her family in Majdal Shams, a Druze village in the Golan Heights. Her family must also contend with the clash between the traditional and the new, as Mona’s various family members unites to see her off. The Syrian Bride is a story about physical, mental and emotional borders, and the strength and will to cross them.
Jaffa’s Ajami neighborhood is a melting pot where Jews, Muslims, and Christians mingle in one of the poorest sectors of the city. Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti’s Ajami gives voice to a cross-section of the neighborhood’s inhabitants: a young Israeli (Shahir Kabaha) fighting a criminal vendetta against his family, a Palestinian refugee (Ibrahim Frege) working illegally to finance a life-saving surgery, a Jewish police detective (Eran Naim) obsessed with finding his missing brother, and an affluent Palestinian (Scandar Copti) dreaming of a positive future with his Jewish girlfriend. But their intersecting stories leads to a dramatic collision of different worlds and the tragic consequences of enemies living as neighbors.
In Tel Aviv, the gloomy Ezra hires foreign workers without permits to build an addition to a homely block of flats, where his ex-wife Mali lives with her current lover Ilan. Ezra and Mali’s young son Eyal hates the army and is AWOL, living among prostitutes and drug dealers. Gabi, a beautiful young woman who’s a friend of Mali’s, is carrying on an affair with Hezi, an older man insisting on secrecy. Hezi rents an apartment at the building for their trysts. Neighbors complain about the noise of their lovemaking and of the construction. Lives in this apartment complex revolve slowly one around another, and in Israeli society, “Everyone’s out for himself”.
Set seven days before the creation of the state of Israel in May 1948, a small rusted ship, carrying a group of concentration camp survivors, is met in Palestine by aggressive British troops. The secret Jewish army attempts to help the survivors, but only a small number make it to land. Tired and hungry, the hopeful immigrants must immediately take up arms against the Arabs. They thought they had escaped a war—but then were drafted into another. Unspoken truths from both sides explode in the violent and tragic ensuing conflict.
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Based on director Amos Gitai’s own experiences as a member of a helicopter rescue crew during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, this story is told from the perspective of Israeli soldiers. We are led by Weinraub and his friend Ruso on a day that begins with quiet city streets, but ends with death, destruction and devastation of both body and mind. Various scenes are awash in the surreal, as Weinraub’s head hangs out over a rescue helicopter’s open door, watching with tranquil desperation as the earth passes beneath, the overpowering whir of the blades creating a hypnotic state. It is not a traditional blood, guts and glory film. There are no battle scenes or glorious deaths; only the rescue crew trying to pick up the pieces.
Rivka and Malka are two Orthodox Jewish sisters living in one of the most traditional communities in Jerusalem, and both are coming up against conflicts between their faith and their gender. Rivka and Meir have been married for 10 years, but are childless. Despite his real love for his wife, Meir feels he must follow tradition and take another, fertile wife. Meanwhile, Malka goes through with an arranged marriage, despite having fallen for a young student. When the realities of her enclosed world become clear to her, she is faced with a choice: to become just another womb, or to face leaving the only community she has ever known.
Clara is a 7th grade Russian emigre to this Negev town and lives in a trailer on the edge of town. What makes Clara unique are her telekinetic powers, allowing her to predict the future. She can predict the answers to a math exam, the winning Lotto numbers, and even an earthquake! Yet she will lose her powers if she falls in love—and then she meets the anarchist rebel hunk at Golda Meir High School. She must choose between her powers and her true love, especially as an impending nuclear disaster approaches.
Based on a novel by Czech writers Pavel and Yelena Kohout.
A middle-class Israeli family has a reunion for Passover and finds itself feasting on a smorgasbord of dysfunction as its members try to cope with their innumerable problems in this drama. Yona and Michael are hosting the Passover festivities. It is a sadder than usual gathering because one of their sons was recently killed in a military accident. Nathaniel, twin brother of the deceased, creates a stir when he shows up with his new girlfriend. How will his ex-wife Gila bear this? Dorona is the eldest and is constantly plagued by allergies, something that has helped kill the romance in her marriage to Rikki. Shai is anorexic while Dalia is morbidly obese. Meanwhile, the bratty son of Nathaniel and Gila creates all sorts of malicious mischief.
