A cinema paradiso comes to Israel with Italian film fest
Eight Cinematheques will screen 16 Italian films as part of weeklong Cinema Italia
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
It will be a week of “cinema paradiso” when the eighth Cinema Italia opens on June 3 in Israel’s Cinematheque arthouse theaters.
The 16 films being shown at the eight Cinematheques in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Herzliya, Holon, Rosh Pina, Sderot and Ofakim range in genre and include heavy historical dramas, satire, classic films, biographies and family-friendly movies.
One of the features is “Thou Shalt Not Hate,” Mauro Mancini’s film about a surgeon called to the scene of an accident who finds the victim has a swastika tattoo on his chest.
Simone, the surgeon, is the son of a Holocaust survivor. He flees but is haunted by guilt and searches for the man’s family, trying to find redemption.
A lighter option is “Parents vs Influencers,” Michela Andreozzi’s movie about the relationship between a widower father and his teen daughter who has turned to her cellphone. In his attempt to figure out what’s happening, he becomes a social media influencer himself.
The film festival is sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institutes of Tel Aviv and Haifa, along with the Embassy of Italy in Israel’s Istituto Luce Cinecittà.
Tickets are available through the Cinematheque websites.
