Jerusalem Film Festival 2025 Opens Amid Regional Conflict, Emphasizing Cinema as a Bridge for Peace

The Jerusalem Film Festival is set to proceed with its 42nd edition from July 17 to 26 at the Jerusalem Cinematheque, despite the ongoing Palestinian humanitarian crisis and the Israeli hostage situation in Gaza, following a recent 12-day Israel-Iran war.

The festival will open with a gala screening of Joachim Trier’s Cannes Grand Prize winner Sentimental Value at the Sultan’s Pool amphitheatre. Other Gala screenings will include Ido Fluk’s Koln 75, Michel Franco’s Dreams, and Wendy Sach’s documentary October 8. Honorees such as Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot and Oscar-nominated producer Lawrence Bender will receive career achievement awards.

Festival CEO Roni Mahadav-Levin and Artistic Director Orr Sigoli acknowledged the heavy context in which the event unfolds.

“With the festival opening in one week, we do so with a profound sense of responsibility to our community and the global artistic family,” they said. “We stand amid deep pain and uncertainty caused by ongoing war and violence, mourning every lost life and calling for an immediate end to hostilities and the safe return of all hostages.”

This will be the second festival held since the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks that killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, triggering Israel’s full invasion of Gaza, resulting in more than 57,000 Palestinian deaths.

The festival coincides with increasing international condemnation over civilian casualties in Gaza and controversial plans by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz to relocate 600,000 Palestinians into an enclosed camp in Rafah.

On the Israeli side, families of approximately 50 Gaza hostages await news, with around 20 believed alive. The military conflict has also sparked protests and dissent among reservists.

The recent Israel-Iran war and ongoing skirmishes along the Southern Lebanon border add to the tense regional atmosphere.

Despite these challenges, Mahadav-Levin and Sigoli reiterated the festival’s dedication to being a space for freedom of artistic expression and open dialogue.

“In these difficult times, we reaffirm our belief that cinema is a bridge between communities and can foster listening, understanding, and hope for peace. The way forward requires reconstruction, reconciliation, and a future based on shared humanity rather than fear.”

This year’s festival will showcase around 80 feature films, including International Competition titles like Ari, The Great Arch, Lesson Learned, Meteors, The Secret Agent, Sound of Falling, The Things You Kill, and Two Prosecutors.

Israeli Competition highlights include Eti Tsicko’s Nandauri, a drama about an Israeli lawyer confronting her past in Georgia, and Shai Carmeli Pollak’s The Sea, following a Palestinian boy’s longing to see the sea for the first time. Nadav Lapid’s Yes!, which premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, will be shown Out of Competition.

Mahadav-Levin and Sigoli thanked the international film community for their support.

“We deeply value those who navigate these complex realities with care, believing in the uniting power of cinema,” they concluded.