Days of Israeli Cinema in Athens
From October 20 to 23, 2022, five screenings films and one concert piano performances with comics screening will take place in the Trianon, in the heart of Athens, as part of the festival Israeli cinema.
All directors will be in attendance and in conversation with the audience.
As the Israeli Embassy’s announcement states: “The festival’s variety of films reflects Israeli society today, its cultural, social and political diversity, while addressing the issues that concern us all. Directors Moshe Rosenthal and Hadash Ben Aroya deal with the inner questioning, relationships and impasses of two different generations, while Yair Kedar explores contemporary society through the perception and sensibility of two Israeli literary giants who recently died, Amu. of AB Yehoshua”.
Composer and pianist Itai Dvori’s innovative Comic Concert is presented on Saturday, October 22. Combining music, text bubbles and sounds, Dvori creates a new genre. At the center of his first concert in Greece, Itai Dvori sets to music scenes from the Greek comic “Gra-Grou” by Athanasios Petros, Tasos Zafeiriadis and Yiannis Palavos, as well as comics by artists from Israel, such as Assaf Hanuka and Hila Noam.
The Films of the Festival
Karaoke, by Moshe Rosenthal (Israel, 2022, 100′)
Meir and Tova, in their 60s, live a middle-class life in a boring suburb, plagued by an unspoken sense of frustration and tone. When ex-model agent Ichik moves into their apartment building, their way of life is rekindled. In their quest to win, their entire existence is turned upside down.
The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. It won the Best First Film Award and the Audience Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival, while participating in the Cannes Film Festival and the Athens Premiere Nights.
Moshe Rosenthal writes and directs films, commercials, television series and web series. Born in Holo in 1985, he made his first independent feature film, Rufus, at the age of 22. He graduated from the Steve Tisch School of Film and Television at Tel Aviv University. Her web series Confess won several international awards and was sold for an American television adaptation by the AMC Network fest.
People That Are Not Me, by Hada Ben Aroya (Israel, 2016, 80′)
Joy can’t let go of her ex, but she can’t seem to fall in love with the new guy in her life. In the meantime, he continues to have casual sex with strangers.
The film premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival and won the Grand Prize at the Mar del Plata Film Festival in Argentina.
All Eyes Off Me (All Eyes Off Me), by Hadash Ben Aroya (Israel, 2021, 54′)
A party in Tel Aviv. Danny looks for Max to tell him that she is pregnant and his child is his. But Max has just started a new relationship with Avisag, whose wild sexual fantasies he tries to make come true.
Hadash Ben Aroya was born in 1988. A graduate of the Steve Tisch School of Film and Television, he was awarded the “Discovery of the Year” award by the Israel Film Critics Forum. She also won the Ophir Award for Best Actress for ‘Peaches and Cream’. She is the writer, producer, director and star of her first film, Those Who Are Not Me.
The Last Chapter of A.B. Yehoshua (The Last Chapter of AB Yehoshua), by Yair Kedar (Israel, 2021, 86′)
A tender portrait of prominent Israeli author AB Yeoshua. Enduring a terminal illness, widowhood and loneliness, she does not for a moment give up the joy of life and faces death with unflinching honesty while tackling a new book.
Rare and fascinating look at one of Israel’s most beloved writers, who died in 2022.
The Fourth Window, by Yair Kedar (Israel, 2021, 54′)
Behind the global success of Amos Oz – an author whose works have been translated into 45 languages and who is considered a representative and symbol of the Israeli consciousness – hides a turbulent personal life. When he was 12, his mother committed suicide. Several years before his death, his daughter accused him of physical and mental abuse during her childhood.
Yair Kedar is an Israeli filmmaker and social activist specializing in literary biographies. For his project entitled “Jews”, in the last 12 years he produced and directed 16 documentaries about Jewish and Israeli writers and poets, creating a cinematic language that is photographed, animated and music. He has been honored with over 18 international and Israeli awards, while his work has been shown on, among others, ZDF, ARTE, SVT, KAN and ERT.
The program of projections
Thursday, October 20
20:30 Karaoke (100′) in Hebrew with Greek and English subtitles | Following is a Q&A with the film’s director, Moshe Rosenthal
Friday, October 21
19:00 Those Who Are Not Me (80′) in Hebrew with Greek and English subtitles. Following is a Q&A with the film’s director, Hadash Ben Arroya
21:00 The Last Chapter of A.B. Joshua (86′) in Hebrew with Greek and English subtitles. Following is a Q&A with the film’s director, Yair Kedar
Saturday, October 22
20:30 Comic Concert by Itai Dvori (90′ with intermission)
Sunday, October 23
19:00 All Eyes on Me (88′) in Hebrew with Greek and English subtitles. Following is a Q&A with the film’s director, Hadash Ben Arroya
21:00 The Fourth Window (54′) in Hebrew with Greek and English subtitles. Following is a Q&A with the film’s director, Yair Kedar
Information
Tickets cost €5 (general admission), a €10 Israeli Film Days Card is also available for all events.
Ticket sales here.
The Israeli Film Days are co-organized by the Embassy of Israel and Trianon Cinema.
All movies that will be shown with Greek and English subtitles.
More information on Israeli Film Days 2022 at official website of the Israeli Embassy in Greece and to Facebook event of the Festival.