Film festival

The Arava International Film Festival returns November 4 to 14 with nine Israeli premieres, Hollywood classics, and two outdoor screens beneath the Negev desert sky.

Notwithstanding the heavy subject matter of many of the films, Jerusalem Women’s Film Festival attendees are expected to come away from the festival in a buoyant, hopeful frame of mind.

The Geneva-based festival, which opens on October 9, had previously included Tell Me Everything, a drama about a boy who discovers his father is gay at the height of the AIDS epidemic, in its lineup.

The title 'NAZA' is the Hebrew military acronym for collateral damage, and the resemblance to another word is not one the filmmakers appear to have worked hard to avoid.

Our Loves received a standing ovation, and the tribute referenced Nesher’s personal and professional connections to the festival in a way that was especially meaningful.

It is an interesting coincidence that the screening of 'NAZA' in Venice took place in the same year as the 40th anniversary of Mordechai Vanunu's revelation that Israel had a nuclear plant.

The word hasbara suggests that if only we explain things properly, the problems will disappear. But persuasion requires something more: a policy that can be explained and defended.

Collateral damage refers to what are considered “acceptable” civilian casualties when military targets are being targeted from the air, and how such decisions are taken.

Nesher describes his film as the story of  “six people who thought they were having the worst day of their lives on October 6, 2023,” and follows them through the Hamas massacre on October 7.

IDF Chief of Staff, Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir announced his intention to order a review of the film on Monday, suggesting that legal action could be taken against the directors of NAZA.