1. BRITS TO THE CORE Downton Abbey fans are in for a treat with the new film The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which reunites several cast members of the hit TV series. Based on the bestselling book by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, the film follows author Juliet Ashton as she travels to Guernsey Island to research her new project. She forms a bond with the residents of Guernsey Island in the aftermath of WW II when she decides to write a book about their war experiences. With Lily James, Michiel Huisman, Glen Powell, Katherine Parkinson, Tom Courtenay
2. HIT MAN WITH A CONSCIENCE In the film You Were Never Really Here, a hired gun with a reputation for brutality specializes in retrieving lost children. Armed with a machinist's hammer, he sets out to return a senator's missing daughter. But beyond the price tag his motives are personal, and his deadly endeavors will bring the chaos of his work back home. With Joaquin Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov.
3. ART AND ABOUT Fresh Paint 10 is being held this week at Ganei Hata'arucha, Tel Aviv's convention center. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Fresh Paint, a huge mural project will be launched on the façades of the convention center pavilions. The fair provides a point of view on contemporary Israeli art and design, as well as some international art projects. There are also selected projects by galleries and art institutions, the upcoming independent artist's greenhouse, the video greenhouse and a presentation of Israel finest product designers. It will also include Fresh Paint's flagship social project, the Secret Postcard Project. Workshops for children will be held during the weekend. April 27, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; April 28, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; April 29 & 30, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
4. BODIES IN MOTION On the stage of GO, a dance performance by Galit Lis, is a group of women on whose bodies the years have left their mark. Most of them danced as young girls, and years later they returned to the art. GO, a manifesto to the mature body, seeks to expand the discussion beyond the particular body to our existence as individuals and as a society. April 30 at 8 p.m.; May 1 at 8 p.m., Suzanne Dellal Center, Tel Aviv
5. THE RETURN OF PHOENIX Vertigo Dance Company brings back Birth of the Phoenix, Noa Wertheim’s award-winning 2004 work. Like the mythical bird that rises from the ashes, the setting of dance piece is dismantled at the end of each show, only to be reborn in another place and time. This eco-dance production is a dynamic site-specific creation adapting to the qualities of each performance site, where audience and performers can experience time and space of the surrounding environment. May 1 at 8:30 p.m., Enav Center, Tel Aviv
6. EXOTIC CULTURES The Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra presents French Exotica, a concert celebrating 350 years of the birth of 18th-century French composer Francois Couperin. The program features music by Couperin and his contemporaries Rameau and Muffat, focusing on works inspired by their fascination with exotic cultures. The orchestra will be joined by soprano Yeela Avital and mezzo-soprano Anat Czarny. On the program: Muffat's Nobilis Juventus from Florilegium Secundum; Couperin's Lecons de tenebres; La Sultann; and Rameau's Suite from Les Indes Galantes. May 1 at the Charles Bronfman Auditorium, Tel Aviv; May 2, International YMCA, Jerusalem 7. DON GIOVANNI IN THE GATSBY ERA The Israel Chamber Orchestra and soloists perform Mozart's Don Giovanni, with the Jerusalem Academy Chamber Choir under the baton of Ariel Zuckermann. The production is set in the early 1920s, an era of frivolity and promiscuity. The hedonistic Don Juan moves about in a promiscuous and hypocritical society, pursuing sensual excitement through his well-honed art of seduction. May 1 & 2 at 7 p.m., Tel Aviv Museum of Art; May 3 & 5 at 8 p.m., Elma, Zichron Yaacov; May 8 at 8:30 p.m., Culture Palace, Ariel
8. A MAGICAL TALE The opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan by Rimsky-Korsakov will be presented for the first time in Israel by the soloists, orchestra and chorus of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich- Danchenko Opera House from Moscow. The beguiling opera, based on a poem by Pushkin, is a magical production that features three sisters, three wishes and the frenetic melody of Flight of the Bumblebee; With the Efroni Children's Choir. Sung in Russian with English and Hebrew subtitles. May 4 at 1 p.m.; May 5 at 9 p.m.; May 6-7-9-10 at 8 p.m.; May 11 at 1 p.m.; May 12 at 9 p.m.; May 13 at 6 p.m., Opera House, Tel Aviv
9. WHAT LOVE IS British-American rock band Foreigner is heading to Tel Aviv. The band has sold more than 80 million records in its 30+ year career. The group’s most recognizable hits include I Want to Know What Love Is, Waiting for a Girl Like You, Urgent and “That Was Yesterday.May 5, Menora Mivtachim Arena, Tel Aviv
10. BREAKING BOUNDARIES The Docaviv Film Festival marks its 20th anniversary with a 10-day celebration of boundary-breaking cinema. Outstanding international films screened at various cinemas around the city include the award-wining movies Shirkers; The Prince and the Dybbuk; The Other Side of Everything; and McQueen, a documentary about fashion designer Alexander McQueen. May 17-26, Tel Aviv. For a full program and tickets: http:// www.docaviv.co.il.
