The Jerusalem International Women's Film Festival opens October 12 with stories and perspectives its organizers say get too little screen time. It runs through October 16, with screenings and events across the city, including at the Jerusalem Cinematheque, its traditional hub. The imbalance shows in one figure from artistic director Lihi Sabag: of 35 films made for Israeli Film Day, only three or perhaps four were directed by women.
“I don't know if that is a matter of discrimination, but we want to say we have amazing female artists, and it is important to give them a stage,” Sabag said. Competition for financial backing is fierce, she added. The festival aims to give women's narratives and perspectives as much screen time as men's, while addressing the smaller number of films directed by women.
Who gets the screen
Sabag and Shira Meishar curated a program of feature films from Israel and abroad, documentaries, shorts, discussions, question-and-answer sessions, workshops, video therapy sessions and free events. The festival also reaches beyond the Cinematheque: organizers plan screenings and events at women's shelters, the Mazkeka, the Van Leer Institute and in haredi neighborhoods.
“Wild Things,” Klil Kovesh's first full-length film, opens the festival. It examines identity, relationships and social values. The festival will honor actress, screenwriter, playwright, film director and social activist Hanna Azoulay Hasfari with a lifetime achievement tribute, alongside screenings of “Sh'Chur” and “Orange People.”
The festival's competitions include Independent Shorts, Student Films and Young Directors, a category for high school student filmmakers. Tal Kushner's “Mikveh,” in Independent Shorts, explores religious women's experiences involving intimacy, relationships, motherhood and hopes. These aren't side issues in the program. Organizers are making room for subjects that Sabag says haven't received equal representation.
Stories inside institutions
Several films focus on institutions that shape people's lives. Swiss director Petra Biondina Volpe's drama-thriller “Frank & Louis” takes place in a prison and follows men serving time for serious crimes. The film draws on the real-life Gold Coats program at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo, where long-term prisoners train to care for elderly inmates with dementia. Sabag said compassion and healing distinguish it from other prison dramas.
French drama “La Maison des Femmes,” directed by Melisa Godet, follows a healthcare and support center for women facing difficulties that include abuse and violence by partners and rape. American journalist-filmmaker Marisa Fox's documentary “My Underground Mother” follows her investigation into the life of her late mother, Tamar. Fox meets Tamar's former friends and fellow inmates from a forced labor camp in Poland, and traces her life during the Holocaust, in pre-state Palestine and in the young Israeli state. The film also addresses all-female Nazi camps and how the then-incipient country treated Holocaust survivors.
“Humor is a balm for atrocity and for trauma,” Fox said. “I think that's why Jews are such great comics. We know hardship, and we know that one of the best defense mechanisms is to laugh about it and move on.” Her documentary combines animation with interviews and locations, bringing humor alongside accounts of trauma, resilience, pain and survival.
No easy escape from the headlines
Sabag said the October 7 attack, the subsequent hostage situation and violence in Gaza have weighed emotionally on the festival. “More and more things come out, each year on October 7. There is emotional baggage we carry with us. It's hard,” she said.
Organizers have also tried to include films that aren't overly challenging. “Our approach is that we need to present the public with more encouraging material. We have enough horrors around us in real life,” Sabag said. The program shifts between difficult subjects and work intended to leave audiences buoyant and hopeful. Its claim is modest and specific: give women artists a stage, then make room for their work to be seen.