The Jerusalem Cinematheque announced that the 39th edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival will take place this year from July 21-31. For most of its nearly four decades, the festival was held during the month of July, so this marks a return to tradition, following postponements and an online festival in 2020 and a festival held in August in 2021.
The 2022 festival will also return to tradition by hosting foreign guests, who were not able to attend last summer due to the pandemic. While the 2021 festival was enlivened by the participation of Quentin Tarantino, a Tel Aviv resident and father of an Israeli son (with his wife, singer Daniella Pick), the 2022 attendees will come from abroad. The festival will feature more than 200 films from 50 countries, including movies that have premiered at the Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, Sundance, Venice and other film festivals. In addition, it will feature festive premieres of the latest Israeli movies and many special events.
The opening screening will be held at the Sultan’s Pool Amphitheater with an audience of about five thousand in attendance.
This will mark the first time that the festival has taken place since Dr. Noa Regev left her post as festival director and cinematheque CEO, which she held for about nine years, first alongside festival and cinematheque founder Lia van Leer and then on her own following van Leer’s death in 2015. Regev is now the director of the Israel Film Fund. Roni Mahadav-Levin, the manager of the cinematheque since 2018, is currently the acting CEO. Elad Samorzik is continuing as artistic director of the festival.
Mahadav-Levin and Samorzik said in a statement: “After a challenging period during the last two years, we are excited about the upcoming festival, which will be held physically and in the presence of hundreds of guests from the international film industry alongside Israeli filmmakers. The festival staff is working around the clock and we are looking forward to the arrival of tens of thousands of viewers at the Jerusalem Cinematheque and to the various centers of activity throughout Jerusalem.”
