Jewish Film Festival Opens Dec. 5 With New Feature by 87-Year-Old Director

The Jerusalem Cinematheque will host its 28th Jewish Film Festival from December 5 to 10. The event takes place during Hanukkah at the arthouse venue, which also manages the summer Jerusalem Film Festival. Two major figures in entertainment will attend the screenings this year.

Oscar winner Volker Schlöndorff will open the festival on December 5. He will receive an Achievement Award at the premiere of his new feature, Visitation. The 2026 film follows generations of people living in a lakeside house near Berlin. The story uses their lives to depict German history. A second screening on December 6 will include a conversation with the director.

Schlöndorff is 87 years old and has worked in film for sixty years. His 1979 adaptation of The Tin Drum shared the Palme d'Or with Apocalypse Now. That film later won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It was the first German movie to win that prize after World War II. The director also made a 1988 documentary with Billy Wilder, a friendship that formed during Schlöndorff's time in Hollywood.

Michael Rapaport will close the festival with Am I Cancelled Yet? The New York based comedian produced the documentary. It examines his relationship with his Jewish identity after the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas. The film visits locations of the massacres and shows meetings with survivors and hostage families. Rapaport will join director Ruth Berdah Canet for a question and answer session after the screening.

Roni Mahdav Levin, CEO of the Jerusalem Cinematheque, and festival director Daniella Tourgeman Glass selected these two films. They said the movies address identity, memory, and belonging. The selections reflect the festival's goal to show ambitious cinema. The organizers also want to encourage conversations between audiences and filmmakers about the Jewish experience.

Ticket sales for the December 5 opening began on November 8. The complete program will appear on the Jerusalem Cinematheque website soon. Tickets for the remaining screenings will go on sale online on November 22.