Cinema of the South Festival in Sderot to celebrate 25 years

The festival's closing ceremony will launch Negba, a new incubator for young southern filmmakers.

The Cinema of the South Festival will celebrate its 25th anniversary at the Sderot Cinematheque from November 1-5, with television premieres, Israeli and international films, filmmaker meetings, competitions, and music.

Founded by Sapir Academic College’s School of Audio and Visual Arts, the festival will highlight filmmakers from Sderot and the western Negev, including works exploring life in the three years since the October 7 Hamas-led massacres in Israel.

The opening event will feature Hanan Savyon and Guy Amir discussing their Netflix series "Bros," ahead of the world premiere of the first two episodes of its second season. The series follows two childhood friends and Beitar Jerusalem fans who run a Jerusalem pub together, as crises test their friendship.

Advance screenings will include "Motherland," a KAN comedy-drama by Yael Hedaya starring Dana Ivgy, Sasson Gabay, and Alma Zack; and "Whose Daughter Are You?," a KAN documentary series about Mizrahi women in Israel, directed by Efrat Shalom Danon and Keren Shayo, and produced by Osnat Trabelsi.

The festival will close with a preview of Iris Zaki’s What Was She Thinking?, about choosing not to have children in Israeli society. Zaki heads the school’s master’s degree program.

Another event will feature the team behind the popular KAN series, "The Pshute," including director Dan Messer and creators Bar Elmaliach Donzov, Chen Rotman, and Oshrit Sarusi.

Closing film to pay tribute to two-time Ophir Award winner Nili Feller

The closing film also pays tribute to editor Nili Feller, a two-time Ophir Award winner. The tribute will feature four films she edited, a master class, and meetings with filmmakers, including Ari Folman and Dani Rosenberg.

Returning Sapir graduates include Efrat Corem with Heart of Gold, starring Chen Amsalem, Menashe Noy, and Israel Atias; Shir Houri Abu with the documentary 100 Gates; and Sderot filmmaker Tal Avitan with Carlos Outside the Lines, about a children’s soccer coach in Kiryat Gat. Eight winning films from previous editions will also be shown.

Regional programming includes Sketches of the Soul, five shorts by western Negev filmmakers about life after October 7, and the premiere of Sami Shalom Chetrit’s My Beloved Gourama, about his father’s life in Morocco and Israel.

Swiss director Thomas Imbach will present two films and give a master class, in cooperation with the Swiss Embassy. The closing ceremony will launch Negba, a new incubator for young southern filmmakers.