Montreal Israel Film Festival

The World is Funny

Celebrating its ninth year, the Montreal Israel Film Festival offers an overview of recent cinema from the Holy Land. While the films selected present a view of the country going beyond the much-covered Israel-Palestinian conflict, rest assured that everyone’s favourite contentious topic is not neglected either.

The fest launches tonight, Saturday April 20, with Yariv Horowitz’s Rock the Casbah. An award winner at the Berlin film festival, this drama takes place during the 1989 intifada, offering a humane look at the people on both sides of the conflict. Director Horowitz will be on hand to discuss the film.

In a society like Israel’s with a strong religious streak, LGBT issues have even greater growing pains. This topic is addressed in two of the fest’s films. Out in the Dark is the Romeo and Juliet-esque tale of a gay Palestinian/Israeli romance, while Melting Away is a drama inspired by a tragic incident of murder at a Tel Aviv LGBT youth centre in 2009. The latter film screened at last year’s Montreal Israel Film Festival, but is making a return engagement by popular demand.

On the lighter side, there’s The World is Funny, a comic narrative weaving together multiple characters and storylines. The film was a record-breaking box-office blockbuster in Israel. Other highlights include Epilogue, the bittersweet tale of an elderly couple’s estrangement from Israeli society, Lipstikka, a drama about two Palestinian women with a shared, contentious secret from their teenage friendship, and Dolphin Boy, a documentary about an Israeli Arab boy’s rehabilitation after a violent incident. Dolphin Boy director Dani Menken will be on hand at the doc’s screening on the fest’s closing night, Thursday, April 25. ■

The Montreal Israel Film Festival runs from Saturday, April 20 through Thursday, April 25. All screenings take place at the Mega-Plex Sphèretech 14 (3500 Côte-Vertu, Ville Saint-Laurent). See the festival website for full schedule and details.