The Haifa International Film Festival is held each year during the holiday of Succoth on the ridge of Mount Carmel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The Festival was founded in 1983 and was the first of its kind in Israel. Over the years, the Festival became the biggest and most important film celebration in Israel.
The Haifa International Film Festival brings together each year an ever-growing audience of 60,000 spectators along with hundreds of Israeli and foreign professionals from the film and television industries. 180,000 people in total take part in the activities of the festival, including the outdoor events, screenings, workshops and more, and dozens of journalists from both the print and broadcast media, from Israel and abroad, cover the event.
During its eight days of celebration, the Festival proudly premieres 150 new films from the best and most recent international productions and holds 220 screenings in seven theaters and under the sky: feature films, documentaries, animation, short films, retrospectives and tributes.
Festival Program:
Gala screenings - the biggest film productions from Hollywood and Europe are premiered at the Festival before moving on to commercial distribution.
Panorama - the very best films world cinema has to offer; films that have won enthusiastic reviews and awards at international Festivals over the past two years and are not intended from commercial distribution in Israel.
Israeli Film Competition - new Israeli films that are competing for awards in a number of categories: feature films, documentary films, TV dramas, animation and student films.
The Golden Anchor Competition for Mediterranean Cinema - a competition of quality productions from Mediterranean countries.
The Fipresci Competitionfor new directors
Doc-Talks - American Documentaries with an introduction before each film.
Retrospectives and tributes - this category promotes filmmakers and themes that celebrate the history of filmmaking and its milestones
New German Cinema - The Latest and the best of the German Productions
East of the West - Cinema from Eastern Europe
The Festival’s Board of Directors is composed of film and culture professionals and members of the public.
Each year the Festival enjoys the support of the City of Haifa, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport - the Israeli Film Council, and the European Union. It is also sponsored by commercial companies.
You can visit the official site of Haifa Festival Film here.
