The Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles (IFF), one of the most prestigious ethnic events in Los Angeles, completed the theatrical part of its 35^th hybrid edition May 19. The festival continues online from May 20 to May 26. The Closing Night celebration took place at the Lumiere Music Hall on Wilshire Boulevard and was graced by the bright presence of Israeli star Hila Saada. The moderate-sized auditorium was pretty full with a mix of guests, some formally attired, others not, but all palpably enthusiastic to be back on the ground among members of the Jewish and the Israeli community. “Are you alive?” MC Mike Burstyn addressed a cheering crowd. “Thank God, let’s hope it stays that way!”

The presenter introduced the IFF Director Meir Fenigstein as the “man who brought 1,100 Israeli feature films, thought-provoking documentaries and exciting television series to Los Angeles.” After thanking supporters and donors for understanding “the importance of promoting Israeli culture through the powerful medium of film,” Fenigstein referred to the great difficulty his team encountered returning to the theaters. “Unfortunately,” he said, “the new normal is watching movies from the comfort of home.” Facing the “new normal and the global changes,” Fenigstein shared his belief that “the only way to bring people to the theater is to make events like this one tonight.”  

The evening started with the first annual presentation of the Yoram Kahana Award for Emerging Israeli Filmmaker. The award was established to honor the memory of the late Israeli HFPA member Yoram Kahana – who loved cinema and had a special preference for non-English and Israeli films – and to support an emerging filmmaker with a donation of $5,000. This year, the prize went to Orit Fouks Rotem, a female director, whose feature Cinema Sabaya – which showcased at IFF – captures the Israeli-Arab dynamics as seen through eight women participating in a video workshop.

HFPA member David Caspi presented the award. He remarked that his Israeli identity has been a major drive for his work as an entertainment journalist: “I have always represented my country with a lot of pride, and that is something I was fortunate to do last year when I was invited to join the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.” He went on to talk about Yoram Kahana’s legacy and described the late journalist/photographer as someone with a “big personality,” always present at press events, a fan of Israeli cinema and the festival. The winning director was not there to receive the award but had sent a video message that was projected onto the screen.

Fenigstein stressed the fact that the Closing Night show, the first episode of the successful Israeli TV series The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, was going to have its English-version world premiere the next day on Netflix. The series is a well-made family drama set in Palestine 100 years ago, at the end of the Ottoman Empire, during the junction of many historic forces which would lead to the creation of Israel.

At the Q&A after the screening, moderated by Caspi, actress Hila Saada was beaming with joy for being in Los Angeles for the first time and for representing the popular series. She talked about her character as a woman who must find her inner strength. In playing the role, her aim was “to make [Rosa] stronger.” Although perceptions have changed over the last century, she said, women still “have the same struggles in both eras.”