French philosopher, filmmaker and author Bernard-Henri Lévy will be the guest of honor at the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival, where he will present his latest documentary, The Will to See: Dispatches from a World of Misery and Hope.
The movie will have its Israeli premiere at the festival on November 28. Following the screening, Lévy will take part in a conversation with acclaimed journalist and documentary filmmaker, Itai Anghel.
The festival runs from November 27 to December 2 at the Jerusalem Cinematheque, and features dozens of movies about Jewish life, personalities, culture and history from around the world. It includes feature films, documentaries, classics, animated films, children’s movies, shorts and meetings with filmmakers. Dr. Noa Regev, CEO of the Jerusalem Cinematheque, is the director of the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival and Daniella Tourgeman is the artistic director.
Lévy is widely regarded as one of the most important contemporary intellectuals, and his more than 30 books are read and debated around the world. He is a devoted Zionist and his book, The Genius of Judaism (2017), praises the achievements of the State of Israel and explores Jewish thought.
The Will to See, co-directed by Marc Roussel, is a look at wars and humanitarian crises around the globe that have been largely forgotten by the media, in such places as Somalia, the Ukraine, Kurdistan and other locations. Lévy is passionately engaged by the issues he raises in the film, and challenges viewers to examine their prejudices and preconceptions.
He has recently published a much-praised book by the same name, and his other works include The Virus in the Age of Madness (2020), The Empire and the Five Kings (2019), American Vertigo, Traveling America in the Footsteps of Tocqueville (2005) and Who Killed Daniel Pearl? (2003), an investigation into the journalist’s death. Many of his books and films involve research and travel that takes him into war zones and Third World countries.
Lévy’s appearance at the festival is supported by Institut Français in Israel, the French Embassy in Israel, the Institut français of Jérusalem, and the consulate-general of France in Jerusalem.
For more information about the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival, visit https://jer-cin.org.il/en/JJFF2021