Before the screening – saying goodbye to Yair Hochner, Founder and Artistic Director of TLVfest.
Colin, a timid man, meets Ray, a confident biker gang leader, who initiates him into a submissive relationship, challenging Colin’s mundane existence and prompting personal growth through their unconventional dynamic.
Based on a novel by Adam Mars-Jones – “Box Hill: A Story of Low Self-Esteem”.
Viewing is 18+.
“Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day” – Croatia’s official nomination for Best Foreign Film in the 2025 Academy Awards, is an historical epic and an ode to love, loyalty and the power of friendship and art.
The film that spans over decades, follows lovers Lovro and Nenad and their long-time friendship with Steven and Ivan, all of them were part of a gay group turned filmmakers while navigating their lives through communist, post-war Yugoslavia.
The film studio they run gains world fame, but they are forced to compromise their arts and beliefs to produce propaganda for the communist regime. The more success they gain the more the fascism of the government seeps into their studio and they suddenly find their lives in danger despite being Nazi fighting heroes.
“Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day” is a luscious, intimate and politically charged cinema and the result is a heartbreaking piece on resistance. This is a film that is crying against oppression, against silencing and for the freedom to live, love and create art without fear.
Talented filmmaker and director Ivona Juka says this film was inspired by a relative of hers that was forced to hide his sexual identity for most of his adult life (homosexuality was still a crime in Croatia up until 1990’s).
Warning: This film contains explicit sex scenes and graphic violence.
This movie is eligible for a special “Monthly TLVfest” price:
4 Tickets – special price 160 NIS (40 NIS per ticket) – purchase here
6 Tickets – special price 225 NIS (37.5 NIS per ticket) – purchase here
12 Tickets – special price 360 NIS (30 NIS per ticket) – purchase here
In association with the European Union
Celebrating The Week of the Italian Language at TLVFest
Reception for ticket buyers at 4:30 PM in the festival lounge (Hall 6) courtesy of the Swiss Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute
15 years old Benedetta lives in rural Italy with her parents and two younger sisters. After work her father enjoys his hobby of fixing old cars while her mother is taking her frustration out on Benedetta. When a travelling fair comes to town Benedetta meets Amanda, who lives an independent life and defies gender norms. Benedetta is immediately drawn to the older Amanda’s self confidence and her independence. The two hardly speak, their tentative friendship is not propelled by big emotions but by mutual affection, curiosity and recognizing each other’s differences.
Director Chiara Bellosi describes her heroines in the small, quiet moments and defines them in a poetic accuracy that is rare in teenage films.
“Calcinculo” gently explores an unusual friendship story while revealing a tale of self discovery and liberation.
In association with the Embassy of Italy & Italian Cultural Institute in Tel Aviv
In association with the Embassy of Switzerland
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A film adaptation of a book by the same name, based on a true story.
We invite you to this moving new Italian film that is also very relevant to the current Israeli reality.
Luca Trapanese is a single Catholic gay man, who in 2017 wants to adopt Alba, a baby with Down Syndrome, who was abandoned at the hospital at birth. In the past, the Italian authorities have denied Luca’ requests to adopt a child or a baby. Alba was left at the hospital while 30 heterosexual families had rejected her. A meeting with a human rights lawyer encourages Luca to appeal to the court in hope they will agree to let him adopt Alba.
Today, thanks to the precedent set by Luca and Alba’s case, Italy allows single men to become foster families. Luca was the first single gay man in Italian history that managed to adopt a child. He didn’t do that to be a groundbreaker or to fight the authorities, he just wanted a family.
In 2017 TLVFest had screened an earlier film by director Fabio Mollo – “Il padre d’Italia”
After a divorce and a layoff from a prestigious job, 52-year-old Nicole’s life is far from what she imagined. She moves from a bourgeois neighborhood to a poor immigrant housing estate in the far suburbs of Paris and the only light in her life is her 19-year-old son, Serge, but he is fed up with his needy mother whom he can no longer tolerate. Nicole’s situation worsens when her checkbook and credit card are canceled. A meeting with Nora, the owner of the local bar, finally provides Nicole with some comfort. But can Serge cope with the change his mother is going through?
French/Italian cinema icon with Jewish roots, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (star of François Ozon’s films: “The Time That Remains”, “Summer of ’85”, “5X2”) plays Nicole with great passion, while Lubna Azabal (“The Blue Caftan”, “Incendies”) as Nora plays a character full of insight and wisdom.
