The 14th annual Docaviv festival, which will take place May 3-12 in Tel Aviv’s Cinemateque, will focus on political conflicts and gay issues.
Documentaries about gay Palestinians hiding in Tel Aviv and a facility for men who have abused family members are among the 12 films that will contend in the Israel competition of the Docaviv International Documentary Film Festival in May.The 14th annual festival, which will take place May 3-12 in Tel Aviv’s Cinemateque, will focus on political conflicts and gay issues. More than 80 films will be screened, and there will also be discussion panels, special events, artists’ master classes and workshops.
The Israeli contestants, chosen from over 70 entries, include Yariv Mozer’s “The Invisible Men,” which follows a gay Palestinian couple hiding in Tel Aviv after being persecuted and threatened in the West Bank.
In Eyal Goldberg’s “Powder,” the filmmaker, a leftist gay activist, is shown doing reserve duty as a tank commander. Omer Yifman’s “All the Happy Mornings” documents his conflicts as a bisexual man, and Zohar Wagner’s “Days of Splendor” shows what happens when an old videotape shakes a man’s faith in his partner.
Yael Sherer’s “Dirty Laundry” focuses on a woman who files a civil lawsuit against her father, who was convicted and jailed for sexual abuse.
Miri Laufer’s “One Day, After Peace” is about a woman who must face the possibility that the sniper who killed her son while he was serving in the territories may be released from prison as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap.
Other contenders include Irit Gal’s “White Night,” about a group of Palestinian women who take the the long, treacherous journey from their village to crawl through a hole in the fence into Jerusalem illegally every night, so they can support their families by working as cleaners.
Marcus Vetter’s “Cinema Jenin” is about a German-Palestinian group that sets out to rebuild an abandoned movie theater in Jenin, hoping to prepare the ground for social, cultural and economic independence in Palestinian society.
Noam Pinchas’ “The Cripple and the Buddhist” focuses on the filmmaker’s return to his childhood kibbutz to save a crippled friend who has become a recluse, and Amit Goren’s “Dangerous Children” is about an institution for men who have abused family members.
Two other contenders are Dan and Noit Geva’s “Noise,” about a man who decides to go to war against the noise invading his Tel Aviv home and Reuven Brodesky’s “Home Movie,” documenting the last phase in the disintegration of the filmmaker’s family.
In the course of the festival, Israeli movies that are not contending will also be screened, as will seven films that are running in the student competition.
Source: Haaretz.com
