The films to be screened during the festival grapple with the basic questions of human existence, as well as marriage between Israelis and Arabs, the tension between the modern world and family traditions, prostitution, homosexuality and love.
Director Eran Riklis will be the guest of honour at the 10th Israeli Film Festival. His 2004 feature ?The Syrian Bride?, included on the festival?s programme, won the best film award from the Association of International Film Critics last year. ?The Syrian Bride? tells the story of Mona, whose saddest day is her wedding day: as soon as she crosses the Israeli-Syrian border to marry Syrian TV-star Tallel, she knows she will never be able to return to her family, who live in a Druze town in the Golan Heights.
Amit Lior?s film ?Café Tales? examines the transformation of a café, once famous as the meeting place for authors, poets and artists, into a seedy joint. ?Nina?s Tragedies? by director Savi Gabison, follows for half a year the secret passion that 14-year-old Israeli Nadav has for his beautiful but emotionally damaged aunt Nina. The film has been awarded 11 Israeli film prizes. ?Shes Not 17?, directed by Isaac Yeshurun, tells the story of an Israeli kibbutz in crisis.
Among the documentaries included in the programme, ?Say Amen? presents the problems faced by homosexuals, while ?Women for Sale? is about prostitutes who have immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union. ?Stalin?s Last Cleanup? recounts the last three years of the dictator?s life, when he considered Jews among his main enemies and had many authors, poets and theatre directors executed.
Source: port.hu
