In a project initiated by ARTE - the Franco-German TV network, Raphael Nadjari investigates more than 70 years of Israeli cinema. The journey begins with the Zionist propaganda of the 30s, 40s, and 50s, establishing Jewish life in Palestine on film. The 60s introduced the fiction era, influenced by European and American cinema. In the late 60s and 70s, Israeli cinema tried to form its unique and local identity, when directors, born and raised in Israel, appeared onstage. During the 80s, Israeli cinema became an important means of political expression. In the 90s and the 2000s, we start hearing a diversity of voices, representing the different cultures forming Israeli society. At the same time, Israeli filmmakers begin searching for individual poetic expression. The film includes interviews with filmmakers and researchers from different eras. A must see for those wanting a comprehensive knowledge of Israeli Cinema!

In a project initiated by ARTE - the Franco-German TV network, Raphael Nadjari investigates more than 70 years of Israeli cinema. The journey begins with the Zionist propaganda of the 30s, 40s, and 50s, establishing Jewish life in Palestine on film. The 60s introduced the fiction era, influenced by European and American cinema. In the late 60s and 70s, Israeli cinema tried to form its unique and local identity, when directors, born and raised in Israel, appeared onstage. During the 80s, Israeli cinema became an important means of political expression. In the 90s and the 2000s, we start hearing a diversity of voices, representing the different cultures forming Israeli society. At the same time, Israeli filmmakers begin searching for individual poetic expression. The film includes interviews with filmmakers and researchers from different eras. A must see for those wanting a comprehensive knowledge of Israeli Cinema!

This film documents the unique story of Eli Avivi, President of "Achziv Land," from the time of the War of Independence when Eli appropriated a deserted Arab village called A'Ziv. He declared the village as the Independent State of Achziv and up until the present day has remained the colorful and independent ruler of his land despite the authority's perpetual attempts to close him down.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Tel Aviv, Ya'akov Gross presents a new documentary that follows the development of the building of the new city across from the ancient city of Yaffo. Its founders, builders and bohemia who settled there installed a new spirit in the awakening Land of Israel, in times when it was hard to believe the Zionist dream would be fulfilled...

9-year-old Pinchas comes from a Russian family and is drawn to the warmth and unity of a religious family. The trouble begins when the two worlds collide.

Queen Khantarisha presents two Israeli-Yemenite women writers in their sixties: A songwriter and lyricist of love, who also stands behind some of the hottest hits that resonate in Yemeni clubs and weddings, and a Jerusalem-born poet and writer, whose writing, touching on demons, madness, rape, and rebellion, has garnered her community's denunciation. The film explores the personal costs of straddling the ambitions of creative expression and the restraints of conservative communities requiring subservience.

The collapse of Communism puts Nicolai, like thousands of other Romanians, out of work. He leaves his family to earn money in Israel. After three years as a "guest worker," tired of giving most of his pay to his employer, Nicolai becomes an "illegal." Caught and sent to prison, his life takes an abrupt turn. Noted documentarian David Ofek (The Hebrew Lesson, 2007 Festival) uses subtle irony to raise questions about who belongs in an increasingly diverse Israel.

Traveling on his scooter through south Tel Aviv, film-maker Tal Haim Yoffe noticed an old photograph and some documents inside a green dumpster. This was the beginning of an investigation that slowly unwound a tragic family history beginning in Lodz, and transverses a Siberian Gulag, a Samarkand sugar plant, a kibbutz in Frankfurt, a deserted Arab building in Jaffa, and an absentee IDF soldier somewhere in the sands of the Sinai Peninsula. Just an anonymous family, but a typical Israeli one.

After more than a year in prison, Meir gets his first home leave. He hasn't seen his son in a year, however, this time will be his last time.

This documentary journey's into the mysterious life of Aris San, the Greek singer who became a megastar in Israel. He was a close friend of generals and politicians, including Moshe Dayan, until rumors spread that the genius guitarist and playboy, was a spy. Aris left for New York and opened a hot night club where Hollywood stars, politicians, and Mafiosos mingled. His friends included Anthony Quinn, Telly Savalas, Harry Belafonte, as well as the Gallo crime family. His meteoric rise ended with a drug addiction, jail and a mysterious disappearance in Budapest.

The Israeli journalist, Miki Rosenthal, attempts to understand the "behind the scenes relationship between money and government" in Israel. This is the system whereby the government sells its limited resources, cheaply, to a handful of wealthy families. Rosenthal, together with the director and photographer, Ilan Aboodi, chooses a difficult mission - he must track down several complicated multi-billion sheqel deals between the Ofer family, one of Israel's top ten wealthiest families, and the government. Part of the wealth of the Ofer family is the result of its partnership with the government which afforded the family very nice profits and represented significant loss to the state. As it turns out, no one really wants to talk to Rosenthal and Aboodi - no one from the Ofer family or, for that matter, not anyone of the government officials and politicians involved in the privatization or other deals mentioned in the movie. During three years of documentation, Rosenthal uncovers the frightening image of a country which sold its assets cheaply to its wealthiest families, allowing them to pollute the air and take advantage of expensive natural resources. He then shows how several of the officials, upon terminating their work for the government, were employed by the Ofer family.

Three divorced middle aged men with glasses, work together in a small, failing insurance agency, located in the rented apartment of the manager. Although they are highly intelligent, have a sense of humor, and well educated, they have absolutely no idea about running a business, and their company is losing a good deal of money and is continually on the verge of bankruptcy. The film documents the attempts of the manager's son, the film's director, to join this motley crew at the onset of the recession, and save his father's collapsing firm.

Those who remember Jerusalem in its splendor have called it the city of gold. It is a city known for its glorious past but bleak future. Instead of dealing with the present, people remain in the past. This is what stands in the way of Jerusalem's survival. Thirty six years after the film I am a Jerusalemite, Yehoram Gaon sets off to find the Jerusalem he left behind. What happened to "Jerusalem of Gold"? Which of the three religions should have the right to control Jerusalem? Maybe this all stems from the "Jerusalem Syndrome" that causes one to lose touch with reality. Have the leaders of Israel and Jerusalem suffered from this syndrome as well? This film attempts to answer many of these questions, talking to a number of the city's residents and through the many songs sung longingly about this city, over time.