'The language of film is universal': Shomron Film Festival opens today

The Shomron Film Festival – the only film festival held in the West Bank – is again set to be a vital platform for Israeli filmmakers from the region to showcase their works. “This is especially [important] given Israel’s strong reputation as a hub for film education, which further underpins the festival’s purpose,” noted Elad Mukades, the festival’s international program curator. 

The festival, which opens today, will run until December 14 and will be held at select venues across the Shomron. The opening event at the Hall of Culture Ariel will be hosted by Hanoch Daum. 

The festival, which started in 2022, initially faced criticism for its connection to the controversial Shomron Film Fund.

Established in 2019 by former culture minister Miri Regev, the fund has drawn scrutiny for its far-Right affiliations, unofficial ties to the Samaria Regional Council, role in normalizing settlements, and the stipulation that grants are restricted to Israeli citizens, effectively barring Palestinian filmmakers.

Making complex films accessible

Needless to say, the festival’s location in the West Bank carries a complex emotional and political backdrop.

However, according to Mukades, its mission is ultimately to make film “more accessible” and share the universal language of storytelling.

“This is the place for them to put voices out into local films,” he said, noting that the advent of the Shomron Film Fund has opened new opportunities for creators in Judea and Samaria.

“When I see a film, I don’t fight. I feel,” Mukades said. “Even if we don’t agree, we can feel one another. We can see through each other’s eyes, at the heart level. I don't know if it's peace, but it’s less hate.”

He reflected on the profoundly cathartic role that film plays in people's lives, particularly in a year marked by tragedy. 

“This year, all the pain and all the prayers, all the feelings from this war, the Supernova music festival, the hostages and their families, the funerals we go to, the friends who are in the army… People are on the edge of a mountain, where you don’t know what to do, but your heart is full.”

Film and the festival offer respite, he said. A place “where you can go and fly away to a story,” providing a momentary escape to recharge and rethink. 

But as much as it offers escapism, the program also aims to challenge its audience. Regarding his process curating the festival, he noted: “I want to feel something. To take me and put me in another situation, one that I didn’t know before, or one that I did know before,” but through a new lens, so to speak.

Perhaps most importantly, given the controversy surrounding the Shomron Film Fund, it’s about facilitating a universal art form through which to experience another person’s point of view, whether you agree with it or not, he said.

ONE FILM that arguably best exemplifies the festival’s ethos is Line of Separation by Igor Raizberg, a short film that portrays a religious settler and a secular Tel Avivian girl, whose unforeseen circumstances force them into dialogue.

Raizberg explained that the film’s message is about the necessity of dialogue between Israel’s Left and Right, calling it “a kind of personal fantasy,” given what he describes as a societal immaturity that prevents such conversations.

The film, which will be screened as part of a tribute to The Shomron Film Fund and is in the running for the Israeli Short Film Award, is partly based on Raizberg’s own experiences during his student years at the Minshar School of Art in Tel Aviv a decade ago.

Over the past year, Raizberg said he believes the film’s message has become all the more pertinent.

“Now, in light of October 7, it has a special meaning – that it is possible to present a complex position on the situation in Judea and Samaria.

“As a native of Ukraine, with a Ukrainian father and a Jewish mother, it took me a long time to find my identity within Israeli society. In the end, I realized that what characterizes me is solely who I am and not where I come from or who my parents are. But unfortunately, the world today is very [binary].

“This is happening in the US, Europe, and Israel as well. We are at the beginning of a very difficult and long global process to build a new and alternative paradigm [to] a world of Right and Left.”

While the festival provides a platform for local filmmakers, it also celebrates international voices. This year, over 70 films from 16 countries will be screened.

Mukades stressed that while some selections may be political, the festival is by no means confined to such themes.

“Films from all around the world, from all the opinions – Jewish, not Jewish – we open the gate so that their voices will be heard here, in this place,” he said.

These include the intimately hand-held short French film Last Holidays, directed by Pablo Bodin, which tells a devastating love story; and the Austrian, dialogue-driven Sails of Sorrow, directed by Artemisia Refle, a single-location short about a family in the wake of a loved one’s funeral. 

There is also The Collaborator, a feature film adapted from Mirza Waheed’s acclaimed novel by American director Travis Hodgkins and filmed in Georgia, which follows a young man growing up amid the border war over Kashmir.

Mukades explained that the program focuses on storytelling and craftsmanship. “It’s the feeling – of one heart through the screen.

“The language of film is universal. This is why I love making and watching films. It allows me to connect with people from all over the world.”

For more information, visit www.tamuzff.org.il.