The sixth Jerusalem International Women’s Film Festival, featuring engaging new movies by and about women, will be held October 27-31 at the Jerusalem Cinematheque, as well as at other venues around the city.
Select films will also be available online free of charge through the festival’s website at www.jwff.co.il.
The festival will open with Tow, a fact-based indie drama by Stephanie Laing that stars Rose Byrne as a down-on-her-luck woman living in her car who finds herself homeless when the vehicle is impounded and then joins an idealistic lawyer to fight back.
If you enjoyed Erin Brockovich, then this film is for you. In addition to Bryne, it features Oscar winners Octavia Spencer and Ariana DeBose, along with Dominic Sessa, Simon Rex, and Demi Lovato.
Naomi Kawase’s acclaimed film Yakushima’s Illusion, which will close the festival, tells of a French heart-transplant coordinator sent to Japan who struggles to save a young boy’s life, while at the same time, her partner goes missing.
Selection of international and Israeli films
This year’s lineup includes a diverse international selection of films by women directors from around the world. Highlights include Queen Mom, by Manal Labidi, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival; The Good Manners, by Celia Rico Clavellino, a post-Civil War family drama; and Four Letters of Love, by Polly Steele, a poetic adaptation of Niall Williams’s bestselling novel, which stars Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter, and Gabriel Byrne.
Israeli films in the festival include Homes by Veronika Nikol Tetelbaum, which had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival; The Book of Ruth, a drama by first-time director Esty Bitton Shushan, who led the fight for women to take part in ultra-Orthodox political parties; and Mama, by Or Sinai, which was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival.
This year’s festival honoree is Yael Perlov, one of Israel’s most influential figures in cinema education and documentary filmmaking. Perlov, a prize-winning director, editor, and producer, was deeply influenced by her father, director David Perlov.
She has led initiatives such as DocuDance and A Room of One’s Own – Women Write, founded the David Perlov Documentary Award, and teaches at Tel Aviv University, where she promotes Jewish-Arab collaboration through film.
For the first time, the festival will feature four Israeli competition sections: Best Feature Film, Best Independent Short, Student Shorts, and Young Directors–High School Filmmakers. The competitions aim to showcase new voices in Israeli women’s cinema, from emerging teen creators to veteran directors.
Other festival features
A special pre-premiere screening will be held for an upcoming Keshet 12 documentary, Cut the Sky, about Alice Miller, whose legal and social struggle opened the doors for women to become pilots in the Israel Air Force.
A special evening at Jerusalem’s Sam Spiegel Film School will feature the debut films about three actresses who have just become directors: The Eulogy by Moran Rosenblatt, Elephant in the Desert by Yael Navon, and Cocoloco by Ella Armony and Dylan Yosef Shitrit.
An online section will also make the festival accessible to audiences nationwide, featuring three full-length documentaries accompanied by recorded filmmaker talks.
The festival sponsors a year-round screening program in shelters for women survivors of violence, accompanied by filmmaker discussions and therapeutic workshops in writing, acting, and video art.
The Jerusalem International Women’s Film Festival is directed by Lehi Sabag and Shira Misher of the Women in the Picture Association, which was founded by the Jerusalem Filmmakers Guild, with support from the Jerusalem Municipality, the Jerusalem Foundation, the Culture and Sport Ministry, and the Jerusalem Cinematheque.