‘No closed door will shut us down’
Comedy and courage set the tone at the opening gala of the 15th Seret Israeli Film Festival
“‘I feel overdressed for this night,” actress Nelly Tagar told the audience at the opening gala of the Seret International Israeli Film Festival at Ham Yard Hotel. “I bought this dress before the war – and it wasn’t really a dress to run to the shelter with.” Minutes later, the star of such Israeli hit shows as Beauty and the Baker described Israel’s recent conflicts as “a babushka doll war — a war inside a war inside a war”.
“In the Haggadah it says: ‘In every generation they rise against us,’” she told the audience. ‘But they said every generation — not every eight months.” Tagar’s humorous monologue was a welcome surprise, particularly as the festival has struggled to find venues willing to screen its acclaimed Israeli films.
Tagar has worked with Seret founders Odelia Haroush and Patty Hochmann for more than a decade and praised the pair for continuing under what she called “these conditions”.
“Making this festival now is a very Zionist, almost religious thing to do,’ said Tagar. “Through these films we can show the true face and the real stories of our people — stories that are not being shown on the news.”
Introducing Haroush to the stage, Tagar reflected on the Jewish instinct for storytelling. “There’s nothing better than Israeli cinema,” she said. ‘We are the people of the story. We came from stories — and now the stories are on the silver screen.”
By the end of her ‘routine’ Tagar had proved she was serious competition for Modi Rosenfeld – maybe even his warm-up act when he returns to London this autumn? In contrast, Haroush had a more emotional and concerned tone when she addressed the audience of Israeli actors, filmmakers, supporters and sponsors.
“This is the 15th edition of Seret UK. When we started this festival, we had a simple belief: great cinema has no borders. Real, human stories deserve to be seen. These past few years have not been easy,” she admitted. “Our budgets have become tighter than ever and we have faced cinemas, venues and partners who have hesitated or pulled away simply because our films come from Israel.”
Haroush said the festival had repeatedly faced a choice: “to be discouraged, to be quiet, to shrink.”
“We choose differently,” she continued. “We believe culture is a bridge, not a war. Cinema is not a weapon. It is an invitation to sit together, feel something together and understand each other a little better.”
To loud applause, she added: “Nothing — no obstacle, no closed door, no shrinking budget — will shut us down.”
This year’s programme includes a retrospective dedicated to acclaimed Israeli director Eran Riklis who was at the gala and his latest film Reading Lolita in Tehran forms is part of the line-up. Based on a true story, the film follows women in post-revolution Iran secretly gathering to read banned books.
Also attending the gala was Neta Riskin, internationally known for Shtisel, ahead of her Q&A screening for Nandauri on Sunday at the Charlotte Street Hotel. The award-winning film by Eti Tsicko follows a successful Tel Aviv lawyer forced to confront the Georgian roots she tried to leave behind.
The film for the gala opening night was Bella, directed by Zohar Shachar and Jamal Khalaily. It follows a struggling musician who discovers his inheritance from his late father is Bella, a rare and valuable dove he accidentally gave away. What follows is a chaotic road trip across Israel and the West Bank with his Palestinian childhood friend Bilal and their wives as they try to retrieve her. Beneath the humour and absurdity, Bella captures something painfully recognisable about life in Israel as portrayed by a superb Israeli and Arab cast.
The contradictions, tensions, warmth and fragile coexistence that exist side by side are part of the film, making it the perfect choice for the opening of a festival committed to showing audiences, as Tagar said –“the country behind the headlines.”
For tickets head straight to seretfilmfestival.org
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