Cinema of the South starts next week

This year's festival focuses on both Israeli and international movies, including several world premieres of new Israeli films.

By HANNAH BROWN
film good 88 (photo credit: )
film good 88
(photo credit: )
The fifth annual Cinema of the South Festival starts at the Sderot Cinematheque on Sunday and runs until next Thursday. Sderot movie lovers are a brave bunch who have never let the security situation stop them from enjoying cinema. This year's festival focuses on both Israeli and international movies (including several world premieres of new Israeli films), with an emphasis on movies from southern Israel - and the southern hemisphere as well. There will a special program of films from India and the Far East. There will also be movies by Sapir College film students; in the past, graduates of the program have gone on to win prizes at festivals all over the world. The festival, which is sponsored by Sapir College, will feature Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir, an animated documentary about the first Lebanon War, which generated a good deal of buzz recently at the Cannes Film Festival. The festival will offer special programs on several subjects, including Judaism and Cinema. While there have been many events lately designed to support Sderot and its citizens, this is a festival well worth attending, regardless of any other considerations. In a statement on the festival's Web site, its organizers say: "For 360 days of the year we're on an almost impossible journey, and only once a year we rest a while and exchange impressions with film-lovers everywhere." For more information, go to http://csf.sapir.ac.il/ or call 1-599-559-555.