All Films and Events 2025 Archives - Page 7 of 10

Ari

Winner of ‘Golden Camera’ Leonor Serraille’s third film (“Jeune femme” “Mother and Son”) brings us an authentic and intimate portrait of a lost young man. Ari is an elementary school teacher who suffers a nervous breakdown in the middle of class. His father kicks him out of the house being fed up with his son’s lack of direction, who at 30 years old still refuses to take life seriously and he wants his son to take responsibility for once in his life.

Ari finds himself wandering the streets of Lille, trying to make connections with old friends, exes and strangers. Through his journey, bisexual Ari will discover he’s not the only one who feels loneliness and alienation in the modern world.

Director Leonor Serraille manages through actor Andranic Manet to turn Ari into a vulnerable yet relatable character, despite his many flaws. A character that is slowly letting go of its fear and for the first time is ready to face reality. This is a small and moving film.

In association with the Embassy of France & Institut français de Tel Aviv

We Are Faheem & Karun

A young soldier, Karun from southern India, is dispatched to a remote village in Kashmir, northern India. One night, a young Kashmiri man appears at a checkpoint with a jaw-dropping smile. This marks the beginning of a romance between Karun and Faheem, one which is condemned to failure from the start.

One man cannot be open regarding his identity due to homosexuality being regarded as a taboo for religious reasons, and the man he loves cannot be open about his identity due to his profession.

“We Are Faheem & Karun” is the first LGBT film in the Kashmiri language. It is also based on a true story and was filmed in secret on the border between India and Pakistan, without approval from the army.

The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka & The Art of Survival

Please be aware – the screening at 27/10/2025 is NOT in Tel-Aviv Cinematheque.

Tamara De Lempicka was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century- a mother, a feminist, a style icon and a proud bisexual woman who celebrated her sexuality. Lempicka fled the war and became a symbol because of her artistic view. She embodied the spirit of Art Deco and painted high society women from a feminine perspective, erotic and daring and full of passion. Encouraged by her grandmother, young Tamara was discovered as a shining talent when she combined cubism, classicism and surrealism in order to reinvent the female form- not as a sexual object, but as a heroine.

In her fascinating documentary, director Julie Rubio dives into the colorful biography of De Lempicka and uncovers her unusual life with never before seen home movies. The result is a thrilling movie about a fascinating artist and woman.

In association with the Polish Institute Tel Aviv

If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart into Your Mouth and Smile

Winner of the Teddy Jury award in the 2025 Berlin Festival, “If you are afraid, you put your heart into your mouth and smile” describes a small and realistic moment in a current adolescent story in a beautiful and touching way. Anna (Siena Popovic) is a 12-year-old girl living with her deaf single mother Isolda (Mariya Menner) in Vienna.

When Anna begins her school year in a new school, she is ashamed of the way her world is different from her wealthy classmates. However, the more Anna’s relationships deepen, and her struggles become more complicated, she learns to use her voice.

The film describes, in touching gentleness, the relationship between Anna and her mother through a refreshing female queer lens. The film is housing a myriad of queer characters and actors including Daniel Sea (“The L Word”).

This is a very touching debut film by director Marie Luise Lehner on first innocent love.

In association with the Austrian Cultural Forum Tel Aviv

No Beast. So Fierce.

The Shakespearean tragedy “Richard III” in a queer, daring and contemporary adaptation. A monumental cinematic experience that meant for the big screen and will leave breathless throughout.

Two noble houses, the Arab families York and Lancaster, bring to the courthouse the war that was raging in the streets of Berlin for decades. The York youngest daughter, Rashida, is a lawyer who ends the long-time gang war in a bloody attack on the heads of the Lancaster family. Finally – some peace!

But as a woman, Rashida is only a pawn in the men’s world. As soon as the dust settles on the battlefield, she is destined to follow her traditional family norms and could never take the top spot in the pyramid. Rashida has no intention to bow to the men in her family- she intends to rule. To claim her place she must plot, seduce enemies and kill lovers. Rashida is played by rising actress Kenda Hmeidan and she gives the role a lesbian twist, and many more layers that do not appear in the original play with a touch of Mediterranean history of violence and war. Rashida’s scarred and wounded soul rises from the ashes and dust into a goddess of revenge. Hiam Abbass (“Succession”, “The Old Man” opposite Jeff Bridges, Eran Riklis’ films: “The Syrian Bride” and “Lemon Tree”) plays Rashida’s devoted right hand.

In association with the Embassy of Germany

Love Me Tender

Please be aware – the screening at 25/10/2025 is NOT in Tel-Aviv Cinematheque.

Actress Vicky Krieps seem to be everywhere these days- her big break was at Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread” alongside Daniel Day-Lewis, “The Survivor” with Ben Foster, the horror thriller “Time” by director M. Night Shayamalan and “Corsage” where she played Austrian Empress Sisi.

Now she enters the shoes of a woman who is fighting for custody over her son, in a performance that can only be described as tour de force. Krieps manages to move, make laugh, hurt and simply dominate the screen for 134 minutes.

At the end of one summer Clemence tells her ex-husband that she is having romantic relationships with women. Her life falls apart when he demands sole custody over their son, claiming she is unstable. Clemence is shocked to discover the French law is on her ex-husband’s side- now she must go through a line of social workers and fight to prove that she is a fit mother while still maintaining her identity as a free woman.

In her second feature film, director Anna Cazenave proves she is destined to be a brave and meaningful voice in current French cinema.

In association with the Embassy of France & Institut français de Tel Aviv

Blind Love

A love triangle goes out of control in Taiwanese director Julian Chou’s second film. Shu-Yin is a mother that quietly runs her family- a husband who’s a respectable surgeon and her rebellious teenage son who refuses to follow his father’s footsteps. An encounter with Shu-Jin, an amateur photographer and an ophthalmologist, will awaken memories, longing and desires she had been suppressing for a long time.

While Shu-Yin is dealing with her old desires, her son Han discovers completely new desires and passions. He accidentally meets Shu-Jin and falls for the charismatic woman who gives him new energy for life.

Director Julian Chou created a melodrama that delves into the fragile bonds that define family dynamics. She explores identity, longing and exposes the tension between the traditional family cell and the westernization of Taiwan.

“Blind love” navigates gently between queerness, gender and cultural expectations.

In association with the Embassy of The Taiwan

Darklands: Are you ready to go deep?

Every year thousands of visitors pilgrim to Antwerp for the world’s biggest Fetish Festival. Through the eyes of Jeroen and his straight sister Nathalie, the masterminds behind the festival “Darklands” offers an unprecedented look on the journey that challenges the conservative social taboo and leaves the audience with dropped jaws.

The film handles delicate subjects in a tender but unrelenting way such as sexual identity and fetishism. Director Roland Javornik manages to crack the seductive magic behind the annual festival.

In association with PrideTV

#300Letters

A jaunty and surprising Argentinian romantic comedy is telling the love story of Tom and Jero in reverse.

On the face of it, an ideal gay couple- they meet on Grindr for a hot hook-up, despite their clashing personalities: Jero is a crossfit athlete and Tom is a queer expressive performance artist. They are drawn to each other through sizzling sexual chemistry and become a couple. A surprise awaits Jero when Tom gives him an unusual anniversary gift- a break up letter.

With the letter comes a box with 299 other letters that tells their story from Tom’s point of view, which leaves Jero completely broken- will he be able to come back from this?

Cristian Mariani is charming as Jero who just wants to find love but ignores every red flag on the way.

Lucas Santa Ana wrote and directed a comedy on the desperate wish to find love in the modern age. He does it with humor, wisdom of life and a very charismatic and talented cast.

Nicola

Nicolas is a divorced Argentinian baker who lives with his three children in a small Bolivian town in the heart of the wild surrounded by forests, waterfalls and lakes.

This ideal environment is clashing with the burden of life and the responsibility of raising children, earning money and the physical and emotional need to be who you are in a community that might not accept you.

Filmmaker Pablo Terrazas documents Nicolas’ life until the moment he decides the reveal a deep secret and start a journey of self-healing and discovery.

In association with the Instituto Cervantes