Renowned French philosopher, author, filmmaker, political activist and veteran war journalist, Bernard-Henri Lévy, lit the first candle at a ceremony marking the opening night of Hanukkah at the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival at the Jerusalem Cinematheque on Sunday night. He was accompanied at the candle-lighting ceremony the French Consul General in Jerusalem Rene Troquez and by Nanno Kleiterp, the head of the board of the Van Leer Institute, which was established by Wim van Leer, husband of the Jerusalem Cinematheque founder, Lia van Leer.
Levy is the guest of honor at the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival and the recipient of the festival's Achievement Award.
The candle lighting took place at the cinematheque library before a screening of his latest documentary, The Will to See: Dispatches from a World of Misery and Hope. Following the screening, Levy was scheduled to take part in a conversation with acclaimed journalist and documentary filmmaker, Itai Anghel.
Earlier in the day, a celebratory meeting was held at the French Consulate in Jerusalem in the presence of French Ambassador Eric Danon and Troquez.
At the reception at the consulate, Levy said, "I am happy to be in Israel, and I really miss Israel - and Jerusalem in particular. My film The Will to See will be screened in many other places in the world, such as Rome and Paris, but there is no more exciting place for me than its screening at the Jerusalem Film Festival.”
The trim, dapper Levy lit the candles, recited the prayer and sang songs, but did not touch the sufganiyot (traditional Hanukkah donuts) provided at the cinematheque reception.
The festival runs until December 2 at the Jerusalem Cinematheque and features dozens of movies about Jewish life, personalities, culture and history from around the world, and includes feature films, documentaries, classics, animated films, children’s movies, shorts and meetings with filmmakers. Dr. Noa Regev, the CEO of the Jerusalem Cinematheque, is the director of the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival and Daniella Tourgeman is the director of the festival.