Highlights of the 41st Haifa International Film Festival

The 41st Haifa International Film Festival, scheduled to take place from October 5 to 14, has unveiled its international program featuring a lineup of highly anticipated films from renowned filmmakers. Among the notable names are László Nemes, Rob Reiner, Gianfranco Rosi, Ildikó Enyedi, Kirill Serebrennikov, Park Chan-wook, and Richard Linklater, alongside several critically acclaimed works by emerging talents.

One of the standout premieres is The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, a documentary directed by Barry Avrich that follows Noam Tibon’s harrowing journey to rescue his family on October 7. This film sparked controversy when it was initially invited to the Toronto International Film Festival but later disinvited due to concerns over the use of video clips from Hamas. It eventually premiered and won an Audience Award.

Reiner’s cult classic This Is Spinal Tap will be presented in a celebratory double feature alongside the new sequel Spinal Tap II, bringing back England’s loudest band for one final concert. Additionally, composer Eran Baron Cohen, known for his work on his brother Sacha Baron Cohen’s films, will lead a masterclass on scoring for the screen.

Cinema enthusiasts can also look forward to a live performance of Hans Zimmer’s Oscar-winning score for The Lion King, accompanied by Yaron Gottfried. Anime fans will appreciate the first Israeli theatrical screening of Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, Hayao Miyazaki’s debut feature.

Opening Film and International Competition

The festival will open with Orphan, directed by László Nemes, inspired by his father’s childhood memories. This coming-of-age story set after the Hungarian uprising of 1956 serves as Hungary’s Oscar submission. Nemes previously directed Son of Saul, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2016.

The festival’s international competition includes several compelling entries. A Pale View of Hills, directed by Kai Ishikawa, is based on a novel by Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro and explores the relationship between a mother and daughter across decades. Living the Land by Hou Meng, which won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival, will also be shown. Dag Johan Haugerud’s Dreams, the final installment in his Sex, Love, Dreams trilogy, will be screened alongside Sex and Love.

Other notable films include Ildikó Enyedi’s Silent Friend, starring Tony Leung and Léa Seydoux, which tells its story from the perspective of a tree. Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, a darkly satirical adaptation of Donald Westlake’s The Axe, won TIFF’s Audience Award for Feature Films. Kirill Serebrennikov’s The Disappearance of Josef Mengele delves into the life of the infamous Nazi doctor, while Saeed Roustaee’s Woman and Child offers a powerful critique of Iran’s patriarchal society.

Special Sections and Documentaries

The festival also features a range of special sections. The Golden Anchor program highlights films that have received acclaim at various film festivals. A new initiative, Off the Beaten Path: Cinema That Does Things a Little Differently, showcases original voices and unique storytelling. Gianfranco Rosi’s Below the Clouds, a documentary shot over three years at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, won Venice’s Special Jury Prize.

In the Haifa Docs section, Jewish Voices: Resurrected Songs by Christoph Weinert uncovers a lost musical chapter from pre-war Germany, highlighting recordings of Yiddish folk, klezmer, and cabaret. The Last Spy by Katherina Otto-Bernstein traces the life of CIA operative Peter Sichel, while A Visitor from the Living, a film drawn from interviews conducted during the making of Shoah, confronts the chilling report of Red Cross official Maurice Rossel on Auschwitz and Theresienstadt.

Classics and Additional Programming

The festival’s Classics program includes René Clément’s Joy House, featuring Alain Delon and Jane Fonda, as well as a tribute to the films of Bertrand Blier. There will also be a Midnight Movies section and screenings of animated films.

The 2023 program concluded on October 7 and had to be canceled, leading to the creation of a new international program called Back to Life, which focuses on movies about grief. This section features Cole Wibley’s Omaha, a Sundance debut starring John Magaro as a father grappling with the challenges of solo parenting.

Yaron Shamir serves as the artistic director of the festival, which is supported by the Israel Film Council, the Culture and Sport Ministry, the Tourism Ministry, the Ministry for Regional Cooperation, and the Municipality of Haifa. The event is produced by ETHOS – Haifa Arts, Culture and Sports Company.

For more details on the full lineup, visit haifaff.co.il.

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