The event will open with the premiere of Avi Nesher’s 'Image of Victory', which was nominated for the 15th Israeli Academy Ophir Awards last year.
Israel Film Festival has announced the lineup of films that it will screen at the 35th edition, which is scheduled to take place from May 5 to 26, both in theatres and virtually.
The opening night film on May 5 is director Avi Nesher’s critically acclaimed Image of Victory, nominated for 15 Ophir Awards.
Image of Victory will take place at the Saban Theatre (Beverly Hills). All other festival screenings will be shown at the Lumiere Cinema’s Music Hall Theater (Beverly Hills) and the Laemmle Town Center 5 (Encino).
Image of Victory, considered Israel’s largest budgeted film to date, is inspired by true events in 1948. Hassanin, an Egyptian filmmaker, is tasked with documenting a raid on the isolated Kibbutz Nitzanim. When the kibbutz learns of the pending attack, Mira, a young but valiant mother, is forced to reckon with the true cost of war and make an impossible choice. It won three Ophir Awards in the fall, for cinematography, costumes and makeup.
With leading Israeli filmmakers and talent in attendance for post-screening Q&As, this year’s festival will include five US premieres, six West Coast premieres and 14 Los Angeles premieres among the 30 award-winning features, documentaries and short films, announced Meir Fenigstein, founder and executive director of the Israel Film Festival in L.A.
The films’ titles include Roman Shumunov’s Berenshtein, Orit Fouks Rotem’s Cinema Sabaya, Greener Pastures by Matan Guggenheim, Assaf Abiri, Here We Are, Pini Tavger’s More Than I Deserve, Plan A by Yoav & Doron Paz, Queen Shoshana, Saving Shuli, Summer Nights, Don’t Wait For Me by Danni Raisfeld and Roy Gluska, The Swimmerby Adam Kalderon, The Raft by Oded Raz, One More Story by Guri Alfi, The Fourth Window by Yair Qedar, and Women of Valor by Anna Somershaf, among others.
Winkler and Wiener will be honoured on April 29 during the festival’s annual sponsor luncheon at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, while Bleiberg will receive his award during the opening night gala.
The film festival will honour acclaimed actor, director, producer and author Henry Winkler with the 2022 IFF Career Achievement Award, real estate and philanthropist David Wiener with the 2022 IFF Humanitarian Award, and Ehud Bleiberg, producer of Image of Victory, will receive the 2022 IFF Cinematic Achievement Award.
The ticket for the May 5 Opening Night Gala and all in-person and online screenings/Q&As will be available from April 26.