Beaufort
Directed by Joseph Cedar

With recent Israeli–Lebanese history clearly in mind, director Joseph Cedar has employed an effectively minimalist style in this riveting look at the futility and frustrations of armed conflict.  Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 2007 Berlin Film Festival.

Jellyfish
Directed by Etgar Keret & Shira Geffen

This highly cinematic seriocomic ensemble piece is a wistful, wonderfully wise rumination on hope and happenstance, which, like its titular creature, appears delicate and amorphous, yet stings when you least expect it. Winner of this yearCamera d Or, Best First Feature, Cannes Film Festival

The Secrets
Avi Nesher

Three women meet on the road to redemption.  Naomi knows her sacred texts better than her own heart.  Michelle's passion needs purpose.  Ailing Anouk (Fanny Ardant) brings them together.  Each seeks reconciliation with G_D and her own female essence.

And for Children (8+):
Litttle Heroes
Directed by Itai Lev

Life is hard when you're a misfit, but it's even harder for a kid who feels like he's facing life alone. In Little Heroes,four square pegs embark on a dangerous quest, and their naive courage affects everyone in their lives.

Three Mothers
Directed by Dina Zvi-Riklis

Alexandria 1942: Two excited new parents, wealthy Egyptian-Jews, welcome King Farouk into their home. The king comes to bless their new daughters, baby triplets. The triplets, who had been living a charmed life, suddenly lose their mother in one of the epidemics that swept Alexandria. Later, when the political fortunes change in Egypt, they are forced to leave their riches behind and immigrate to Israel with their father. Sixty years later, the turbulent events of their extraordinary lives have clouded the sisters’ relationships with secrets and lies. In a final attempt to clear their guilty consciences, they confront their ghosts and memories to seek forgiveness. “Three Mothers” is an emotionally charged and tender drama about “sisters who stuck together and sacrificed their husbands and children for their love for each other, because they had no other way.” This film is a stunningly beautiful, evocative tale of family relationships at their best and worst.

Aviva My Love
Directed by Shemi Zarhin

In a small northern Israeli town, we meet Aviva, a hard-working cook, living with her unemployed husband, troubled children, and unstable mother. Through the chaos, Aviva follows her lifelong dream of becoming a writer, and her talents gain the interest of an accomplished novelist named Oded. But soon she sees how her personal journey to greatness affects the lives of her family, and primarily her sister, Anita, a funny and sensitive woman with her own dreams. Aspirations shift and collide when Aviva discovers that Oded has other plans for her.

Blues By the Beach
Director: Joshua Faudem

Mike’s Place is a Tel Aviv blues bar, patronized by a hip, secular crowd.  In 2003, an American filmmaker used this bar as an example of how Israelis continue their enjoyment of daily life despite the threat of terrorism.  During that project, a suicide murderer bombed the bar, killing three and wounding many others.  This film records not only the attack itself but also the aftermath and painful process of recovery.  The Israeli spirit is never defeated.

Be Fruitful and Multiply
Directed by Shosh Shlam

This powerful documentary explores the choices that ultra-orthodox women have to make amid traditional expectations of motherhood. On the one side, we see women who spend most of their lives either pregnant or nursing, focusing on two women who revel in their role as head of their large families. On the other side, we meet two ultra-orthodox women who decided to limit their family size. Yentl, who appears in the film without her husband's knowledge, voices concern that the pressure to produce large families causes many of these perpetually-pregnant women to a secret life of unhappiness.

Six Days: June 1967
The War that Changed the Middle East
Directed by Ilan Ziv

Directed by Israeli expatriate Ilan Ziv, this documentary explores riveting stories of the Six Day War of June 1967. Using archival footage, interviews with surviving politicians and military leaders, and narrative commentary, this film shines light on a war that forever transformed Middle Eastern history and allowed the reunification of Jerusalem for the first time since the formation of the State of Israel. Ziv's even-handed approach is as gripping as it is informative.

Souvenirs
Directed by Shahar Cohen and Halil Efrat

An elderly, Iraqi-born veteran of the British Army’s Jewish Brigade, which was formed in Mandatory Palestine toward the end of the Second World War, accompanies his son, an Israeli filmmaker, to retrace the Brigade’s steps, through combat in northern Italy to occupation duties in The Netherlands.  The son, however, has an ulterior motive, and that is to track down the Dutch woman who he believes was his father’s girlfriend during the war. 

Someone to Run with
Directed by Oded Davidoff

A teen-aged girl suddenly disappears, becomes one of Jerusalem’s “throw away” children, and falls into the clutches of a Fagin-like character.  Concurrently, a teen-aged boy is assigned to track her down to serve a dog license citation.  As the boy realizes that she is in danger, it becomes his mission to rescue her.  Based on the novel by famed Israeli writer David Grossman, the young characters mature quickly and at the same time overcome fear. 

Sentenced to Marriage
Directed by Anat Zuria

For Jewish women in Israel, the right to divorce is determined by Jewish religious law.  Under that law, a woman can receive a divorce only if her husband consents, and no husband can be compelled to grant a divorce.  This situation has left many Jewish women in Israel unable to obtain a divorce and start a new life.  This brave film examines three especially shocking examples of why some form of change is necessary.

Sweet Mud
Directed by Dror Shaul

Sweet Mud is a complex and multi-layered coming-of-age tale that's sweet and charming in all the right places. On the surface, it's a simple story of a son's relationship with his fragile and mentally unstable mother. But with its many subtle complexity, we see a richly woven tapestry of culture, idealism, love, and freedom. Deeply moving performances are given by Ronet Yudkevitz, who portrays the mother as both a tragic and dignified woman, and Tomer Steinof, playing the son in a truly impressive debut performance.