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Cupcakes poster

Cupcakes

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.

East Jerusalem/West Jerusalem

David Broza, the Israeli singer-songwriter, sets out to realize his dream of cooperation and dialog between Israelis and Palestinians through music. During 8 days and nights of joint creation in an East Jerusalem studio a hopeful message of equality and unity arises.

Junction 48

Junction 48 is the love story of two young Palestinian hip-hop artists who use their music to fight against both the external oppression of Israeli society and the internal repression of their own crime-ridden, conservative community. It depicts a new generation of young Arabs who seek normality through their love and music – and against all odds.

Harmonia

Sarah, a morose harpist in the Jerusalem Philharmonic Orchestra, is married to Abraham, the charismatic conductor of the group. They have no children. When Hagar, a young horn player from East Jerusalem joins the Orchestra, Sarah’s world erupts. A unique friendship evolves between the two women. Hagar, feeling Sarah’s pain from not having children, offers to have a baby for Sarah. Ismail, born to Hagar and Abraham, is a wild and gifted pianist whom Sarah raises as her own. When Ismail discovers the true identity of his mother, his world – and that of those around him – falls apart. Harmonia maintains the unique essence of the biblical story from Genesis and adds a personal and human perspective.

The Snail

This musical, quasi-documentary film follows the making of the music album “Shablul” by Arik Einstein and Shalom Hanoch. Influenced by The Beatles, interspersed with humorous skits, and loaded with classic songs from Einstein and Hanoch, “The Snail” brings back the ’60s and the Israeli pop and rock scene.

The Troupe

This offbeat musical directed by Avi Nesher follows a dozen members of the military entertainment troupe, whose mission is to entertain the Israeli Army following the Six Day War in 1967. Although the performers are not at the front lines, they, too, suffer tensions, learning to get along, making and breaking romances—all while competing to become the best performer in the troupe and to receive coveted television coverage.

There Must Be Another Way

The Israeli representatives at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest are NOA, who is considered one of the most famous Israeli singers in the world today, and Mira Awad, an Arab-Israeli singer. But their partnership sparks controversy given the timing: soon after Israel’s Gaza operation. After performing in front of the pope, Noa has no need for the Eurovision contest, and instead is using the opportunity to make a political statement, by singing side by side with Mira. Despite resistance and backlash, the two unite on shared humanitarian goals.