Haifa 42nd International Film Festival

Ainara, an idealistic and brilliant 17-year-old, has to decide what university degree to pursue - or at least that's what her family hopes she will do. However, the young woman says feels increasingly drawn to God and is considering becoming a cloistered nun. The news takes her entire family by surprise, creating a rift and putting everyone to the test.Winner of the Best Film Award at the 2025 San Sebastián Festival and five major Goya Awards, Sundays is a spellbinding tale about the fragile balance between faith and skepticism from rising Spanish writer-director Alaúda Ruiz de Azúa.Filmography: Love at First Kiss (2023), Lullaby (2022)*Dear customers, when buying a multiple number of tickets you are advised to check our "Tickets and Sales" page for the most cost-effective options.Take notice: The multiple-entry ticket must be purchased before the individual movie tickets. 

Set in 1956, Hallo Betty follows Emmi Creola, a talented copywriter who defies a male-dominated workplace by inventing “Betty Bossi”, a fictional housewife who becomes Switzerland's culinary icon. As Betty's popularity skyrockets, Emmi is thrust into the spotlight and struggles to balance the expectations of her public persona with her role as a wife, mother, and professional. A warm and humorous portrait of the 1950s, Hallo Betty explores female ambition, identity, and the timeless tension between public image and private life.Filmography: Bisons (2024), Needle Park Baby (2020), Recycling Lily (2013). Screening and Culinary Event on September 27Following the screening, a discussion moderated by Hila Alpert, followed by a tasting meal.“Lemon Peel”For many years, women carried the DNA of their families in their cooking pots. Home kitchens were bubbling explorations of family roots, rich with taste and aroma—a source of family strength that wome...

June 1940. France collapses and signs the armistice. In the midst of the chaos, one man refuses to give up. Alone against the odds, this unknown general flees to London to save what remains of freedom. Without an army, without backing, without hope – but with one irrational conviction: France, his France, has not laid down its arms. What follows is a triumphant story of faith, audacity, and an unshakable quest for freedom.Antonin Baudry has crafted a powerful and dramatic portrait of a man at the very center of a turning point in history, on his path to becoming one of the twentieth century's defining leaders. Simon Abkarian commands the screen as the titular General, leading a standout ensemble cast.Filmography: The Wolf's Call (2019).*Dear customers, when buying a multiple number of tickets you are advised to check our "Tickets and Sales" page for the most cost-effective options.Take notice: The multiple-entry ticket must be purchased before the individual movie tickets. 

Paris, 1928. Antoine Balestro, a young painter in vogue, has been unable to paint since his wife died, much to the despair of his gallery owner, Armand. One drunken evening, Antoine tries to contact his wife through a psychic, but instead finds himself speaking with Suzanne, a humble carnival worker who has sneaked in to steal food. Suzanne proves to be a gifted fraudster and, soon aided by Armand, stages fake séances.The Opening Film of the 2026 Cannes Festival, The Electric Kiss is a light-hearted romantic comedy from one of France's most beloved filmmakers, Pierre Salvadori (The Trouble with You, 2018 Haifa IFF).Filmography: The Trouble with You (2018), In the Courtyard (2014), Beautiful Lies (2010), Priceless (2006).*Dear customers, when buying a multiple number of tickets you are advised to check our "Tickets and Sales" page for the most cost-effective options.Take notice: The multiple-entry ticket must be purchased before the individual movie tickets. 

The film follows 12-year-old Toma, expelled from school after being bullied. When he returns home, he finds his father Nemo, absent since Toma was two, waiting to take him to their ancestral village in the Caucasus mountains. Recently released from prison, Nemo is not welcome by the locals. But he is determined to pass down the ancient tradition of deer hunting to the boy. Over the course of this fateful weekend, Toma confronts the wilderness, a pack of wolves, his father’s shadowy past and his own fears.Filmmaker George Ovashvili blends memory and myth with stories from his childhood to explore the father-son bond. The title comes from an old Georgian poem that refers to the moon as a father, a metaphor that shapes the film’s tone.Filmography: Khibula (2017), Corn Island (2014), The Other Bank (2009).Screening on September 26th, attended by the director, followed by a toast.A taste of Georgia before the film: A toast featuring fine Georgian wine will take place in the...

Belgium, 1999. Tech visionaries Luc and Geert realize they only have 24 hours of freedom left, as their structure of fake companies, unchecked innovation and political corruptions is about to be exposed in the international press. This exposure forces a reckoning far beyond their personal story and the close-knit community that invested heavily in their promises, shedding light on the systems that enabled their rise and now will let them take the fall.Dust comes to Haifa from the competition in Berlinale. The biting screenplay makes a timely argument against the voracious corporate culture, that may be the real villain of the story.Filmography: The Best of Dorien B. (2019).*Dear customers, when buying a multiple number of tickets you are advised to check our "Tickets and Sales" page for the most cost-effective options.Take notice: The multiple-entry ticket must be purchased before the individual movie tickets. 

Piero and his son Giuliano live alone on the edge of town, in a farmhouse filled with injured animals they collect and care for. The Nonne, local notables, want to drive them out because they live like vagrants. During a snowfall, Piero disappears and the animals are killed. Giuliano has no choice but to search for his father. Along the way, he meets Maddalena. It is love at first sight.Wandering Trees, the new film from maverick filmmaker Salvatore Mereu (Assandira, 2020 Haifa IFF), is a mysterious and moving family saga tinged with fantasy.Filmography: Assandira (2020), Pretty Butterflies (2012), Three Steps Dancing (2003).*Dear customers, when buying a multiple number of tickets you are advised to check our "Tickets and Sales" page for the most cost-effective options.Take notice: The multiple-entry ticket must be purchased before the individual movie tickets. 

Sarah leaves her exciting life as an activist and artist in 1990s San Francisco to return to the small, conservative hometown she fled when Alzheimer's begins to erode her mother's vibrant personality. Forced to grow up quickly, she juggles a new relationship, long-held career ambitions, and an eccentric family, whom she literally follows to Mexico and back in a last-ditch effort to make them take the situation seriously. Confronting a disorienting reality she can't control, Sarah must find her footing – learning to accept her mother's decline and the imperfect beauty of her family – in order to become the daughter they need.Leah Nelson's film brings Sarah Leavitt's acclaimed graphic novel to the screen with an exceptional voice cast. Feature Debut*Dear customers, when buying a multiple number of tickets you are advised to check our "Tickets and Sales" page for the most cost-effective options.Take notice: The multiple-entry ticket must be purchased before the...

Life is good for Derya and Aziz, a celebrated artist couple from Turkey, until an incident at their play’s premiere. Suddenly targeted by the state and struggling to balance their ideals with life’s necessities, their marriage is pushed to a breaking point.The new film from Ilker Catak (The Teachers' Lounge, 2023 Haifa IFF), winner of the Golden Bear Award at Berlinale, is “both a gripping marital drama and a rallying cry against artist censorship” (IndieWire).Filmography: The Teachers' Lounge (2023), Stambul Garden (2021), I Was, I Am, I Will Be (2019).*Dear customers, when buying a multiple number of tickets you are advised to check our "Tickets and Sales" page for the most cost-effective options.Take notice: The multiple-entry ticket must be purchased before the individual movie tickets. 

In Hope Harbor, a remote village near the Demilitarized Zone, police outpost chief Bum-seok receives alarming reports from locals that a tiger has appeared. As the village erupts into panic, Bum-seok is forced to confront a reality beyond belief.Reinforcements have been diverted to battle wildfires, and all communication has been cut off. Hope's police outpost chief, Bum-seok, and officer Sung-ae struggle to defend a village populated by elderly residents, while in the mountains, Sung-ki and the locals who set out to track the beast find themselves hunted instead. What begins in ignorance plants the seeds of disaster, escalating through human conflict into a tragedy of cosmic proportions.Filmography The Medium (2021), The Wailing (2016), The Yellow Sea (2010), The Chaser (2008).*Dear customers, when buying a multiple number of tickets you are advised to check our "Tickets and Sales" page for the most cost-effective options.Take notice: The multiple-entry ticket must be purchased before...

Russia, 2022. When Gleb, a successful company director, finds himself under siege from mounting corporate pressures and an increasingly unstable world, the collapse of his carefully ordered life accelerates toward violence.From master director Andrey Zvyagintsev (Leviathan, Elena, Loveless), the powerful new drama Minotaur traces the emotional and moral collapse of a Russian businessman under the strain of personal and political upheaval.Filmography: Loveless (2017), Leviathan (2014), Elena (2011), The Banishment (2007), The Return (2003). *Dear customers, when buying a multiple number of tickets you are advised to check our "Tickets and Sales" page for the most cost-effective options.Take notice: The multiple-entry ticket must be purchased before the individual movie tickets. 

Sicily, present day. Arturo is a real estate agent who is almost infallible at his job, but far less successful in his love life. He lives alone, somewhat disillusioned, and nurtures a single, unwavering passion: desserts. His life lights up when he meets the woman who is undoubtedly his soulmate. Flora is perfect: beautiful, funny, kind, brilliant... and she's also a pastry chef. An immediate and overwhelming love blossoms between them. But standing in their way is an invisible yet powerful presence: God. Flora is a devout Catholic, while Arturo is not.Filmography: On Our Watch (2021), At War with Love (2016), The Mafia Kills Only in Summer (2013).Screening and Culinary Event on September 29Following the screening, a discussion moderated by Hila Alpert, followed by a tasting meal.Inside Sunny’s World of DessertsYaron Shalev, David Frenkel and Michael Gertofsky are just some of the chefs with whom Sunny Deri has collaborated over the years.A conversation with a pastry chef whose...

In the early 17th century, somewhere in Germany, a mysterious soldier arrives in an isolated Protestant village. Slight and modest in stature, his face disfigured by a scar, the stranger declares himself the heir to a long-abandoned farmstead and produces a document to support his claim before the suspicious villagers. Over time, he overcomes their doubts and becomes part of the community. However, his quest for acceptance is built on a bald-faced lie.Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance at the Berlinale.Filmography: Angelo (2018), Michael (2011).*Dear customers, when buying a multiple number of tickets you are advised to check our "Tickets and Sales" page for the most cost-effective options.Take notice: The multiple-entry ticket must be purchased before the individual movie tickets. 

2021. Afghanistan, right before the Taliban's return to power. Naru, the only camerawoman at Kabul's main TV station, struggles to retain custody of her three-year-old son after leaving her serial cheater husband. Convinced that no good men exist in her country, Naru is caught off guard when Qodrat, Kabul TV's leading journalist, offers her a career opportunity. As the two crisscross the city reporting on its last days of freedom, sparks fly, and Naru begins to question her beliefs: could there actually be a good man out there?No Good Men, the Opening Film of the Berlin Festival, is an intelligent and charming political romantic comedy.Filmography: The Orphanage (2019), Wolf and Sheep (2016).*Dear customers, when buying a multiple number of tickets you are advised to check our "Tickets and Sales" page for the most cost-effective options.Take notice: The multiple-entry ticket must be purchased before the individual movie tickets.