Woman Director 2025 Archives - Page 2 of 3

Love Letters

Please be aware – the screening at 24/10/2025 is NOT in Tel-Aviv Cinematheque.

It’s 2014 and Nadia (Monia Chokri) and Céline (Ella Rumpf) are expecting their first child.

37 years old Nadia is carrying the baby. Her partner, Céline, is a 32 years old musician and a DJ. Céline is still trying to find her place and a sense of legitimacy amongst her judgmental friends, her mother (a renowned pianist who spends most of her time travelling the world) and the French law which isn’t very forthcoming towards same-sex couples who choose to be parents.

Director and screenwriter Alice Douard based the script on her personal experiences when she went through the exact same process on her way to motherhood. With a loving look and plenty of empathy she explores her characters, their couple’s conflicts and personal dilemmas.

César award winners Ella Rumpf (“Raw”, “Marguerite’s Theorem”) and Monia Chokri (“Love Me Tender” and Xavier Dolan’s films “Lawrence Anyway” “Heartbeats”) portray the roles of Céline and Nadia with sincerity, love and plenty of empathy and gives us the feel of two women in love who undergo an alternative and powerful experience- this film proves once again just how great are those two actresses are.

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

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

Rains Over Babel

Babel is a legendary nightclub that is an oasis to anyone who is queer, freak and different in town. La Flaca is Death herself that resides in the club, and she plays with the lost souls that gamble with her through the years. Will they be able to win against death herself?

Director Gala Del Sol’s first full length feature is an intoxicating fusion of alternative tropic dream and modern-day Columbia. Del Sol creates a hypnotic and fantastic world where life and death clash and destinies are rolled with dice. The sexiest of casts is portraying sparkling characters that takes us to a journey full of life which is all wild subversion where each and every one of them fights their own demons and it’s all happening in a retro-punk-futuristic-colorful style full of passion.

“Rains Over Babel” is an ode to the resilience of queer characters from the fringes of society that are fighting for one thing- to be themselves without fear.

The result is sexy, sparkly, daring and ambitious cinema that promises an unforgettable experience.

In association with the Instituto Cervantes

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

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

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