US PREMIERE During the rise of tourism in Tunisia in the 1970s, young local men from poor families would romance European women. It was their business – or “bezness” – in the local parlance. Filmmaker Alex Pitstra was born from such a union and raised by his mother in The Netherlands. As he seeks to […]
NYC PREMIERE On the Map recounts how Tel Aviv’s underdog Maccabi basketball team toppled the Soviet Red Army team in 1977. The “miracle on hardwood” put Israel on the map in international sports. Filmmaker Dani Menkin (39 Pounds of Love) gains vivid interviews with the team’s players and NBA luminaries Bill Walton and David Stern. […]
WORLD PREMIERE In 1989, the United Arab Emirates was merely 18 years old and the country craved recognition. The moment came as a group of young UAE footballers defied the odds on an international stage and secured a place to compete in the World Cup in Italy. “I see the lights of Rome now,” exclaimed […]
Two years after American photojournalist James Foley went missing in Syria, the graphic video of his public execution served as the shocking introduction of ISIS to the world. Unwilling to allow his childhood friend to be remembered only by his death, Brian Oakes celebrates Foley’s life through intimate, revealing interviews with family members and friends. […]
US PREMIERE The Alaev Family, a multigenerational family folk-rock group, has been performing for more than 50 years, blending Eastern European, Jewish and Roma influences in unforgettable performances. After the fall of the Soviet Union, their benevolent dictator, Papa Allo, moved his clan from their native Tajikistan to Israel, where he has continued to exert […]
US PREMIERE Together, Anoosh and Arash are Blade & Beard, a pair of techno DJs known for throwing raves in the desert. But they live in Iran, so their scene is underground, their events are secret and they have to stay one step ahead of their repressive country’s morality police or risk imprisonment. Just as […]
NYC PREMIERE Beitar Jerusalem Football Club is the most controversial team in Israel. Loyal fans, known as La Familia, take pride in Beitar being the only team in its league that has never fielded an Arab player. In 2012, team owner Arcadi Gaydamak, a Russian-born billionaire with political aspirations, signs two Muslim players from Chechnya. […]
WORLD PREMIERE A story of thousands of Rohingyas–a people persecuted at home and abroad–told through the voice of Raees, a refugee in Dubai.
US PREMIERE Filmmaker Danae Elon grew up in Jerusalem as the daughter of writer Amos Elon, then relocated to New York City. In this film, she chronicles what happens when she and her husband Philip, a French-Algerian Jew who never lived in Israel, move their family to Jerusalem. Shot over three years, the film captures […]
2015 VIEWFINDERS COMPETITION WINNER NYC PREMIERE More than five years into her practice as a defense lawyer in Kabul – the first and only Western lawyer, not to mention the only woman, licensed to work in the Afghan courts – no- nonsense attorney Kimberley Motley finds herself at a crossroads. Though originally motivated to provide […]