Duration: 74 mins
Call Me Agnes
Agnes’ life revolves around Badminton games with her gay co-workers and working at the restaurant she opened in her home with her best friend Rini. One day her younger brother Indra shows up, looking for his long lost brother Hans. Agnes is facing a hard dilemma- should she tell the truth about who she is or should she continue to hide? The truth might give her a chance to reconcile with a brother she hasn’t seen in decades but it seems this reconciliation is harder to reach than she imagined.
Agnes is reflecting and reliving her memories in a film that combines documentary and fictional cinema and even a little bit of a musical and the result is a gentle, humble and very touching film.
In association with PrideTV
Jimpa
Anna (Academy Award Winner Olivia Colman) takes her non-binary teenager, Frances, to Amsterdam to visit their gay grandfather Jim- nicknamed Jimpa (Academy Award Nominee John Lithgow), an elderly decadent patriarch who’s having a hell of a time in Amsterdam. Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde) wants to stay with Jimpa for a year and experience the big queer city to the fullest. This will force Anna to reconsider her beliefs regarding parenthood and eventually face her past and her complex relationship with her own father.
In 2014 we screened Sophie Hyde’s phenomenal debut film “52 Tuesdays”, in the time that passed she directed Emma Thompson in the comedy “Good luck to you, Leo Grande” and now she returns with a personal queer film. “Jimpa” is a loving and thorough look on complex inter-generational relationships in family, friends and lovers.
Thesis on a Domestication
A successful transgender actress (Camila Sosa Villada), known for her promiscuous and wild lifestyle, which defies every expectation set for her by her friends and the conservative Argentinian society, surprises her friends when she decides to settle down and start a family with a new husband (Alfonso Herrera “Sens8”, “Ozark”), will she be able to navigate between the mis-matched worlds she lives in? Moving between the wild nightlife she blossomed in, as a successful theatre actress in a demanding cultural world and the seemingly normal family life.
Director Javier van de Couter’s film (“Mía”- 2013 TLVFest closing film starring Camila Sosa Villada as well) is a steamy adaptation to a novel by the same name written by Camila Sosa Villada. This is a brave cinematic piece that gives us a strong and complex transgender heroine that is navigating between sexual fantasies, complicated personal history, social expectations and the want to create a family unit she never had. Can she have everything or will she have to give up some things in order to have the bourgeois family dream?
This film is limited to 18 years old and above due to explicit sex scenes.
In association with the Instituto Cervantes
Skin of Youth
Saigon, the 90s. San is a sex worker at a night club trying to save enough money for gender affirming surgery in order to achieve her dream of living in a woman’s body. San’s lover, Nam, works as a wrestler in an violent and bloody underground wrestling ring, fighting caged matches to help his lover’s dream come true.
Their young and fiery romance will stand in question as dark forces penetrate their intimate world, which the two lovers will need to deal with as all chances are against them. This conflict could be both catastrophic for their relationship, and also tests the limits of their humanity. “Skin of Youth” is the first Vietnamese film starring a transgender actress in the leading role. Be noted that this film is only permitted for viewers over the age of 18 due to explicit sexual scenes.
Calcinculo
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
Odd Fish
Please be aware – the screening at 31/10/2025 is NOT in Tel-Aviv Cinematheque.
Set against the breathtaking scenery of frozen Iceland, and some mouth watering dishes, this is where we find this gentle and heartwarming comedic drama. Two childhood friends get a chance to leave their restaurant open all year round. When one of them comes out as a transgender woman, their long standing friendship is put to the test, and unveils new perspectives on life and identity.
“Odd Fish” is the first Icelanding film to star a transgender actress, Arna Magnea Danks.
Bring the whole family along to watch this humble, funny and moving film.
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
That’s Gila, That’s Me
Alon Weinstock’s documentary film has a cult following with fans who return annually; packing movie theatre to capacity for the sole purpose of enjoying Gila Goldstein’s zingers and being moved by the life story of one of Israel’s first trans women who was also a Tel Aviv icon-turned legend, while still live.
Gila was born in the 50’s in lower Haifa. A young soccer player in the Maccabbi Haifa who had always known that she is a woman. In her 20’s she moved to Tel Aviv and worked as a prostitute and exotic dancer. In 2003 she was proclaimed the community’s darling for her contribution and continued fight for social justice.
The film, shot between 1997 – 2010, describes the world of a woman who is, despite fleeting years and many struggles, still happy, optimistic and feeling forever young. Because Gila is the one and only and in her own radical language: “That’s Gila, That’s Me.”
In memory of Gila Goldstein (18.12.1947 – 05.02.2017)
Good Boys
A special screening to mark the 20th anniversary hosted by filmmaker Tom Shoval (“Youth”, “Letter to David”, “Echo of Your Voice”, “Life Without Credit” and more…)
17-year-old Meni wears only the most fashionable clothes, is interested in music, loves the cinema and works as a rent boy. He had a baby from Mika, a young drug addict prostitute. He has an adoptive mother who is also a trans-gender prostitute and clients that contacts him on his cell-phone.
One night he meets Tal, also a hustler, and they decide to spend the night together. During that night, their lives gain a new meaning, but can the little hope change the life they are used to from an early age?
In the morning they decide to meet later at the club. Until the awaited meeting, both of them will have to deal with their weary routine of clients, marginalized people and unexpected events.
From the jury’s reasoning at the Eilat Film Festival 2026 for choosing it as the best Israeli film: “…We found in the film “Good Boys” a cinematic story that is difficult to digest, but touches on the courage of a world whose existence we usually prefer to ignore. The film grabs you, hits you, and leaves you asking questions, searching for answers, and hurting. Another important point is the human side of the characters living in poverty – and often maintaining a human image, and for this, by unanimous decision, we found “Good Boys” worthy of the award.”
