Docaviv (Hebrew : דוקאביב), also known as the Tel Aviv International Documentary Film Festival, is the only film festival in Israel dedicated to documentary films, and the largest film festival in Tel Aviv. It is run by a non-profit organisation of the same name, founded in 1998. In recent years (to 2021) the festival has drawn an attendance of around 40,000. [1]
The festival has multiple sections, including a domestic Israeli Competition, an International Competition, and the non-competitive Panorama, Masters and Music sections. [2]
Docaviv Galilee is a five-day offshoot of the festival, held at Ma'alot-Tarshiha. [3]
Docaviv is funded by the Israeli government, as well as by private entities and companies. [4] In 2019, the festival's artistic director, Karin Rywkind Segal, stated that the festival operates independently in selecting films, and that, "So far, no one has requested that we change anything. We are not a political film festival, but we are against censorship, and we are for freedom of speech and democracy. And we can be very diverse. If there is a movie that is not in alignment with our political views but gets people to ask questions, or even if it's one-sided in its outlook, but is open to debate and thought, we will screen it if it's a good piece of cinema." [4]
Each year, Docaviv staff meet with funding bodies for documentaries, as well as with broadcasters, in order to be cognizant of upcoming documentary films and ask their filmmakers to submit their works to the festival. [4] Submissions to Docaviv's Israeli Competition are submitted through an open call process each September. [4] Around 80 documentaries are submitted to Docaviv's Israeli Competition annually. [4] The members of the selection committee for the Israeli Competition change each year. [4]
Visions du Réel is an internationally renowned documentary film festival held in April each year in Nyon, Switzerland. Established in 1969 as the Nyon International Documentary Film Festival, the event adopted its current name in 1995 and is the largest Swiss documentary festival.
Yair Qedar is an Israeli documentary filmmaker, social activist and former journalist. In his project "the Hebrews", he had been Chronicling the lives of Jewish and Israeli figures of the modern Hebrew literary canon, Qedar's 19 feature length documentaries have all premiered at film festivals and have won the director over 30 prizes. Also, Qedar is a leading LGBTQ activist. He created several Queer films and the first Israeli LGBTQ newspaper.
Ohad Milstein is an Israeli documentary filmmaker, photographer and video artist, located in Israel, Tel Aviv. His Films show the cinematic & artistic components within a narrative and its constructive-formalistic aspects. Milstein studied Cinema (BA) at Tel Aviv University from 1996 to 2000 and Photography & art (MFA) at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design from 2003 to 2005. He has a distinctive cinematic language combining art and documentary cinema. Milstein teaches cinema at the Screen-Based Arts department of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.
Gidi Avivi is an Israeli film producer, the founder of Vice Versa Films.
The Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival (TISFF) is one of the largest student film festivals in the world and is considered one of the most important in its field. The film festival hosts hundreds of students, lecturers and guests of honor from the world's leading film industry in Tel Aviv, for a week of screenings and cultural events. Hundreds of films, premieres, cinematic events, workshops, conferences and special projects are held, inviting thousands of visitors to the Tel Aviv Cinematheque halls every day. Since 2013, it has been held once a year, in June, in Tel Aviv.
Daphni Leef is an Israeli social activist, video artist, and editor. In July 2011 she initiated the 2011 Israeli Social Justice Protest that took place in Tel Aviv and were the largest social protests in Israel's history.
Tali Shalom-Ezer is an Israeli filmmaker, screenwriter, and director. She is best known for her debut feature, Princess (2014) which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival as part of the World Dramatic Competition.
Hives is a 2012 Croatian anthology film. It had its national premiere at the 59th Pula Film Festival (Croatia) and its international premiere at the 60th San Sebastián International Film Festival (Spain).
Yonatan Nir is an Israeli documentary film director and producer and a former photojournalist.
Shira Arad is an Israeli film editor and musical supervisor. She is a former DJ and TV actress. In 2016 she received the Ophir Award for Best Film Editing, for the movie Our Father. Since 2020 Arad is a member of the European Film Academy.
Netalie Braun is an Israeli poet, writer and filmmaker. She won the 2017 Ophir Award for the best short documentary film.
Rachel Leah Jones is an American-Israeli documentary film director and producer. Her documentary film Advocate about the controversial human rights lawyer Leah Tsemel, which she co-directed and co-produced with cinematographer Philippe Bellaïche, premiered at 2019 Sundance Film Festival, and won top prizes at Kraków Film Festival, Thessaloniki Documentary Festival and Docaviv Festival.
Advocate is a 2019 Israeli documentary film, directed by Rachel Leah Jones and Philippe Bellaïche. The film premiered at the 2019 Sundance Festival, and went on to win top prizes at Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Kraków Film Festival, Hong Kong International Film Festival and Docaviv Festival. Advocate won the Emmy for Best Documentary in the 42nd News and Documentary Emmy Awards.
The Viewing Booth is a 2019 documentary film directed, co-produced and co-edited by Ra'anan Alexandrowicz. An international co-production of Israel and the United States, the film features a Jewish American college student named Maia Levy. Levy, a staunch supporter of Israel, is shown videos depicting Palestinian life under Israeli military rule in the West Bank, causing her to contemplate her worldview and her beliefs about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
Michael Liani is an Israeli artist, photographer, video artist and editor, and art lecturer who lives and works in Tel Aviv. He has won several awards, including two from Israel's Ministry of Culture and Sports, Docaviv festival and the International Photography Contest at Paris College of Art. His creations have been displayed in dozens of museums and galleries.
A House Made of Splinters is a 2022 documentary film by the Danish film director Simon Lereng Wilmont, created with the support of the State Agency of Ukraine for Film Affairs. An international co-production with Denmark, Ukraine, Sweden and Finland, it follows the story of children from a special orphanage in eastern Ukraine.
Sira is a 2023 drama film written and directed by Apolline Traoré and starring Nafissatou Cissé, Mike Danon, Lazare Minoungou, Nathalie Vairac and Ruth Werner. The film depicts the story of young nomad named Sira, who after a brutal attack refuses to surrender to her fate without a fight and instead takes a stand against Islamist terror. It is a co-production between Burkina Faso, Senegal, France and Germany.
1341 Frames of Love and War is a 2022 Israeli-German documentary drama film written and directed by Ran Tal. The film is based on the story of German born Israeli photographer Micha Bar-Am and depicts the ancient history and culture of Israel. The film is made entirely with a collection of archival images taken by Micha Bar-Am over five decades. The film was premiered in the Special section at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival on 13 February 2022.
Songs of Earth is a 2023 Norwegian documentary film written and directed by Margreth Olin. In the film, Olin follows her 85-year-old father through a year in the natural surroundings of Oldedalen in Vestland, where he grew up. The film had its world premiere during the documentary film festival CPH:DOX in Denmark on 18 March 2023, and a Norwegian cinema premiere on 1 September of the same year.