Docaviv, Israel’s leading documentary film festival, is back for its 25th edition from May 11th to May 20th, with an impressive international program. This year’s festival promises to be a celebration of the best in documentary filmmaking, featuring world premieres, Q&As with filmmakers, and industry events held throughout Tel Aviv–Yafo.
The festival’s opening film, The Child Within Me by Eti Aneta and Yaniv Amoday, is an honest introspection full of humour and self-acceptance about the Israeli musician Yehuda Poliker. It is part of the Music program, which also includes films such as Love to Love You, Donna Summer, by Roger Ross Williams and Summer’s daughter Brooklyn Sudano, Joan Baez I Am A Noise by Karen O’Connor, Miri Navasky, and Maeve O’Boyle, and Little Richard: I Am Everything by Lisa Cortes.
Docaviv’s International Competition features 11 titles from around the world. It includes Mstyslav Chernov’s 20 Days In Mariupol, which chronicles the last camera crew left in Mariupol during the Russian invasion, IDFA winner Apolonia, Apolonia by Lea Glob, about the charismatic young artist Apolonia Sokol, Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s Matter Out of Place, about the vast amounts of waste that humans produce, and Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner The Eternal Memory by Maite Alberdi.
The festival’s Shorts Competition presents 13 films, including Balls by Gorana Jovanović, which explores how a soccer tournament between the armies of former Yugoslav republics can serve as an instrument for peace, and Will You Look at Me by Shuli Huang, a touching conversation between a young Chinese man and his mother who struggles to accept his sexuality.
In addition to film screenings, Docaviv also features several awards and competitions, including the Yad Vashem Award for an outstanding Holocaust-related documentary, the Uri Avnery Award for Courageous Journalism, and the Artistic Vision Award. In addition, as in previous years, the Israeli, International, and Short Competitions winners will be eligible to compete for an Academy Award.
