The 38th Jerusalem Film Festival opened with a festive ceremony at the Sultan’s Pool amphitheater in Jerusalem on Tuesday night, the first time a full version of the festival has been held in two years, and movie lovers and politicians alike attended the event, where, after several speeches, Ari Folman’s Where is Anne Frank, an animated docudrama, was shown.
President Isaac Herzog spoke at the opening ceremony, saying: “The Jerusalem Film Festival is part of our heart and soul, and it is a tradition that cannot be extinguished.... There is nothing like cinema to help us understand the other... there is nothing like cinema to tell us the story of Israeli society... and to bring us hope. How good to know after the difficulties of the last two years, cinema is still here, and here it will stay at this festival.”
He paid tribute to those who continued to work behind the scenes in the film industry and at the festival, and said the film industry is “an essential industry,” using an expression that became very important during the pandemic year.
He promised the government would continue to support the film industry, noting that it is important to acknowledge the damage done to the industry by the pandemic and regulations. “We won’t stop enjoying the film industry and culture.”
Culture and Sport Minister Chili Tropper said: “It is not to be taken for granted that this festival is opening.... In the corona era, we have all learned to value the freedom of seeing a movie.... Everyone is here with a green passport and a mask; there is no reason to stop this.... Society without cinema is very sad.”
The minister added that he had already seen Where is Anne Frank, and described the moving experience of watching it receive a standing ovation at its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. “The minutes where this giant crowd in France stood because they were so moved by the story of Anne Frank, this is the answer as to why cinema is so important.”
Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion said: “This festival is home for 150 films from around the world, where they can meet those who love them.... Jerusalem is proud to be the home of this amazing celebration of cinema and culture at the Jerusalem Cinematheque.”
He mentioned the founder of the festival and the cinematheque, the late Lia van Leer, and said that the city had named a street near the cinematheque after her.
Jerusalem Film Festival director and Jerusalem Cinematheque CEO Dr. Noa Regev said: “This year we are especially emotional to open this festival.... We are sending a clear message to this virus: You won’t defeat us. Cinema has survived world wars, and it will survive this.”
Former president Reuven Rivlin also attended. His late wife, Nechama, was a passionate movie lover and supporter of the festival.
Folman said that his movie “is about the importance of saving children’s lives.... I want to dedicate the screening to a dear woman who is no longer with us, Nechama Rivlin.... She said artistic freedom is something you just take.”
Folman is best known for Waltz with Bashir, another animated documentary about the First Lebanon War. His Anne Frank movie imagines that Kitty, the imaginary friend Anne addressed in her diary, has come to life in contemporary Europe and searches for the truth about Anne’s final days, before the teenager died in a Nazi death camp.
THE FESTIVAL runs through September 4 at the Jerusalem Cinematheque. The way to the 2021 festival was a long and winding road. The festival normally takes place in early- or mid-July, but in 2020, due to the pandemic, it was postponed and finally moved online in December (except for a very small opening night in which Eytan Fox’s Sublet, the official 2020 opening film, was shown in screenings for just 10 viewers). Tuesday night’s festivities took place at a time when COVID morbidity is up, but so are vaccinations, and the gathering will be held in accordance with Health Ministry rules.
Tuesday’s opening night will kick off a full, 10-day in-person festival, featuring hundreds of movies from all over the world, as well as the latest Israeli movies. There are several closely watched competitions; PitchPoint, a pitching event; film trucks that will screen films for free, including festival films such as a digitally restored version of the Israeli classic Big Eyes, directed by Uri Zohar and starring Arik Einstein; children’s movies such as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone; and recent releases such as In the Heights.
While this is a year that the festival can’t host as many guests from abroad as it usually does, Pulp Fiction director Quentin Tarantino, now a Ramat Aviv resident married to Israeli singer Daniella Pick, will lend his star power by hosting several low-budget films from the legendary Israeli production company the Cannon Group, run by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus.
While it may be a challenge to hold a large festival right now, this festival has known other difficult times and has always managed to be a bright spot for moviegoers.
I interviewed van Leer while she was planning a festival at the height of the Second Intifada, and she quoted Waiting for Godot: “I can’t go on, I’ll go on.” The festival did go on that year, and it was wonderful, and it has flourished all the years since. And it will go on in 2021.