Now in its ninth year, the Docu.Text Festival, in cooperation with Docaviv Tel Aviv International Documentary Film Festival, will present five days of contemporary filmmaking from Israel and around the world at the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem. The program grapples with identity, memory and culture under the central theme of “Between War and Healing.”
The festival, starting on Aug. 18 and concluding on Aug. 22, includes international and local premieres in the library’s open-air Idan and Batia Ofer Park, in the new David Geffen Auditorium and other spaces. More than 20 films will be screened, accompanied by talks with filmmakers, and lectures and workshops.
The opening event on Aug. 18 will be the Israeli premiere of “We Will Dance Again,” directed by Yariv Mozer. It is a stark portrayal of those who attended the Nova music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7, only to be attacked by Hamas terrorists who infiltrated the Gaza border that Shabbat and Simchat Torah morning. It features those who survived and those who did not, meticulously reconstructing the events, raw emotions and heroism that emerged from that brutal day.
Another topical screening is an episode from “Hostages,” an upcoming five-part series by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. It is a harrowing journey that spans five decades, revisiting past events in which Israelis were captured and kidnapped, and the behind-the-scenes negotiations conducted by Israel with terrorist organizations. The episode to be screened, “Bargaining Chip,” depicts an incident involving eight IDF soldiers held in Lebanon in 1982.
The festival will close on Aug. 22 with an episode from the 2012 docu-series “The Albums.” It will also celebrate “Eifo HaYeled-Sugar Time,” the 30th anniversary of an album that has become a milestone in Israeli rock history, followed by a live outdoor performance by the band itself, Eifo HaYeled.
Click here for a complete list of films and programs.
