This year’s festival program includes more than 50 new films from Israel and around the world.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFA SCENE FROM ‘Radio Silence.’(photo credit: Courtesy)
Solidarity – Tel Aviv Human Rights Film Festival, taking place online from December 3-10, is the only film festival in Israel dedicated to films that deal with human rights struggles.This year’s festival program includes more than 50 new films from Israel and around the world, Israeli film competitions and homages to local directors, lectures, panels, Q&As and discussions with filmmakers and human rights activists.The festival, initiated by the festival director Dani Vilenski, has been taking place annually since 2010, and produced since 2015 by the Solidarity for Art, Activism and Human Rights Association, in collaboration with the Tel Aviv Cinematheque.Among the international documentary films being screened are:• Caught in the Net (Czech Republic, 2020) – A gut-wrenching film about the spread of pedophilia through social networks. Directed by Barbora Chalupová and Vít Klusák.• The Girl on the Bridge (New Zealand, 2020) – Deals with the phenomenon of suicide among the younger generation. Directed by Leanne Pooley.• The 8th (Ireland, United States, 2020) – A film by three female directors (Aideen Kane, Lucy Kennedy, Maeve O’Boyle) dealing with the complete ban on abortions in Ireland and the story of the fight and great victory by activists who did all they could to give control over their own bodies back to Irish women.• Radio Silence (Switzerland, Mexico 2019) – The courageous documentary by director Juliana Fanjul about justice fighter Carmen Aristegui, a popular radio host fighting the brutal crimes of the Mexican regime.A VARIETY of Israeli films will compete in the Israeli Feature Film Contest in honor of Prof. Zeev Sternhell, including:• Scattegories (Director: Yakie Ayalon, 2020) – The children of the Essien family were torn away from their lives in Israel and put into a harsh reality in Nigeria, where they became penniless drifters. The only one who worked and barely provided for the family was the eldest daughter, Esther. Her status changes when she gets a one-time permit to return to Israel by herself. Now it’s clear she must save her family, and bring them home.
• And I Was There (Director: Eran Paz, 2019) – Random trance music raves in the living room are quite common when it comes to teenagers. But what happens when the teens are Israeli soldiers, the living room belongs to a Palestinian family and the family members are locked in one of the rooms? Eighteen years after his military service, Eran Paz finds a box of video tapes featuring rare documentations of his squad mates infiltrating Palestinian houses in the territories. Now he embarks on a journey following the people, memories and places which flood his thoughts and leave him restless.• In the Director’s Chair Sits a Woman (Director: Smadar Zamir, 2020) – A feministic cinematic essay dedicated to Israeli female feature film directors. The story of the work of the first Israeli female director, Ellida Geira, as told through the monologues of 24 active female directors and one speech by Ronit Elkabetz, invokes a cinematic quilt of the image of the director. The spiraled, intuitive and associative structure presents the experiences of the women who wish to tell stories in the local film industry, a male-dominated work environment going through changes.For full program of film screenings, festival events and ticket purchases: www.solidaritytlv.org.
