SERET UK 2019 – April 29th – May 12th – London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Brighton, Cambridge
Shachar Zfania directs ‘Finta La Comedia’.
SERET UK 2019 is back from April 29th to May 12th, and will be hitting cinema screens in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Brighton, and, for the first time, Cambridge, bringing the best in contemporary Israeli film and TV.
The 2019 program is richly diverse, covering the broad scope of secular and religious life among all of Israel’s communities. “Our selected films and documentaries comment on the plight of ‘the other’ through examining immigration, sexual transition and disability. We have chosen films which examine fatherhood and family trauma with heart and soul; which open the lid on suppressed political intrigues, which share religious and spiritual journeys, and which demonstrate the effects of the wars of yesterday and today,” say the co-founders.
There are 30 films and 43 screenings included in the Festival, most of which are UK premieres, and several are national and international film award winners.
The line-up includes the Opening Night Gala screening and UK premiere of the drama Good Morning Son, directed, written by and starring Sharon Bar Ziv. A young IDF soldier suffers a traumatic brain injury when he enters a booby-trapped house in Gaza. Within the confines of his hospital room, his family and friends are with him day and night, talking to him lovingly, touching him, through the depths of his coma, waiting for the crucial moment when he surfaces.
The UK premiere of King Bibi, a documentary on Israel’s polarising Prime Minister, directed by Dan Shadur will be screened during the Festival too. King Bibi explores Benyamin Netanyahu’s rise to power, using archival footage of his media performances over the years, from his days as a popular guest expert on American TV, through his public confession of adultery, and his mastery of the art of social media.
The Other Story, a feature film from one of Israel’s most important directors Avi Nesher, examines, with warmth and wit, the difficulties a secular Jewish family has in coming to terms with their recently ultra-orthodox daughter’s wish to marry her previously ‘bad boy’ musician and now Haredi boyfriend.
Autonomies is a new TV series which presents an alternate reality to present day Israel, a nation torn and divided by a wall into the secular “State of Israel”, with Tel Aviv as its capital, and the “Haredi Autonomy” in Jerusalem, run by an ultra-Orthodox religious group. Yehonatan Indurski – writer of the TV series Schtisel, is the writing talent behind Autonomies. This screening is part of a discussion panel on the religious v secular, lead by film maker Asher Tlalim on 6th May.
Laces, directed by Jacob Goldwasser tells the story of Gadi, who has special needs, who on the death of his mother, has to move in with the father who abandoned him when he was a young child.
Locations: London cinemas and venues offering screenings during the Festival include the JW3 in Finchley Road; Everyman cinemas in London’s Kings Cross and Central; Picturehouse Crouch End; Cine Lumiere South Kensington; Regent Street Cinema; Phoenix East Finchley and Pushkin House in Bloomsbury.
Screenings at Picturehouse Cambridge, Cambridge Junction, Reel Borehamwood, Picturehouse Brighton, Everyman Glasgow and The Cameo Edinburgh are also included in this year’s SERET.
Q & As with leading filmmakers. Many of Israel’s leading filmmakers and top actors are coming to the UK for Q & A sessions at the Festival screenings, including Sharon Bar Ziv, Yankul Goldwasser, Yehonatan Indurski, Moshe Folkenflick, Neveh Tzur, Shai Gal, Avi Merkado, Shachar Zfania, Guilhad Emilio Shenkar, Tammy Federman and Dan Shadur.
Discussion panel – religious v secular : There will also be a panel discussion on religious versus secular life in Israel, supported with clips from film and TV, with a panel of Israeli film makers and actors. Chaired by Asher Tlalim, an Israeli Academy Award Winner and leading film academic, the panel will include Yehonatan Indurski, who was born into an ultra-orthodox family, and Moshe Folkenflik, the lead actor in the film Redemption.
The event which will be held at the JW3 on 6th May will include the screening of a full episode of the Israeli TV hit series Autonomies. There will also be clips shown during the discussion from The Other Story; Redemption; The Unorthodox; The Testament; The Jewish Underground and Unsettling.
Tickets and further information
The SERET London 2019 website contains details of all screening dates and times, and ticket booking facilities, http://www.seret-international.org/category/uk-2019/
Festival features, documentaries and TV series:
THE ANCESTRAL SIN – UK PREMIERE DOCUMENTARY 109 minutes Director David Deri
AVENGING EVIL DOCUMENTARY 79 minutes Director Nick Green
AUTONOMIES – UK PREMIERE TV series ???? minutes Creators Ori Elon, Yehonatan Indursky
BROKEN MIRRORS – UK PREMIERE DRAMA 104 minutes Directors and writers Imri Matalon and Aviad Givon
CELLFISH UK PREMIERE DOCUMENTARY 72 minutes Director Tami Federman
DEAD WOMEN WALKING – UK PREMIERE DRAMA 101 minutes Director and writer Hagar Ben Asher
FAMILY IN TRANSITION DOCUMENTARY 60 minutes Director and writer Ofir Trainin
FINITA LA COMEDIA – UK PREMIERE COMEDY 77 minutes Directors Victor Braun and Shachar Zfania
GEULA – REDEMPTION – UK PREMIERE DRAMA 104 minutes Directors Yossi Madmoni and Boaz Yehonatan Yaacov
GOOD MORNING SON – UK PREMIERE DRAMA 81 minutes Director and WriterSharon Bar-Ziv
HERE AND NOW – UK PREMIERE DRAMA 90 minutes Director Roman Shumunov
THE JEWISH UNDERGROUND – UK PREMIERE DOCUMENTARY 91 minutes Director Shai Gal
JONATHAN AGASSI SAVED MY LIFE DOCUMENTARY 106 minutes Director Tomer Heymann
KING BIBI UK PREMIERE DOCUMENTARY 87 minutes Director Dan Shadur
LACES – UK PREMIERE DRAMA 98 mins Director Jacob Goldwasser
MADAM YANKELOVA’S FINE LITERATURE CLUB UK PREMIERE DRAMA/HORROR 88 minutes Director and writer Guilhad Emilio Shenker
NOBLE SAVAGE – UK PREMIERE DRAMA 94 minutes Director Marco Carmel
THE OTHER STORY – UK PREMIERE DRAMA 112 minutes Director Avi Nesher
PAST LIFE DRAMA 110 minutes Director and writer Avi Nesher
SHOOTING LIFE – UK PREMIERE DRAMA/COMEDY 84 minutes Director David Kreiner
TEL AVIV ON FIRE COMEDY 100 minutes Director and writer Sameh Zoabi
TIKKUN HA-LAMED OF THE HA-ARI HAKADOSH – UK PREMIERE DOCUMENTARY 52 minutes Director Yossi Ashdot
THE UNORTHODOX DRAMA/COMEDY 92 minutes Director and writer Eliran Malka
UNSETTLING – UK PREMIERE DOCUMENTARY 70 minutes Director and writer Iris Zaki
Further information on the Festival and ticket booking facilities are available at www.seret-international.org
Leave Us Your Comments.