Jewish LGBT Film Watchlist
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- DirectorIlil AlexanderThis profoundly moving film explore the clandestine struggle of three women fighting for their right to love within their Orthodox Communities in Jerusalem. All three are lesbians, and members of a secret support group called the "Ortho-Dykes".
- DirectorNitzan GiladyThe international World Pride event, planned for Jerusalem in 2006, is disrupted by orthodox Jews, evangelical Christians, and conservative Muslims, who are united by their dislike to LGBT events in the city they consider holy.
- DirectorHaim TabakmanStarsZohar StraussRan Khalil DankerTinkerbellA married, Orthodox, Jerusalem butcher and Jewish father of four falls in love with his handsome, 22-year-old male apprentice, triggering the suspicions of his wife and the disapproval of his Orthodox community.
- DirectorEric SteelStarsSamuel H. LevineRon RifkinChristopher McCannA young Jewish man is caught between thrilling private trysts and his repressive family in this thoughtful drama set in 1980s Brooklyn.
- DirectorSandi Simcha DubowskiStarsShlomo AshkinazySteve GreenbergNathan Lopes CardozoA cinematic portrait of various gay Orthodox Jews who struggle to reconcile their faith and their sexual orientation.
- DirectorDavid DeriStarsDavid Deri
- DirectorChaim ElbaumStarsOri LachmiOmer ZonensheinYehonadav PerlmanOhad, a young orthodox Jew, is torn between the man he loves and god. Who will he choose?
- DirectorMax FärberböckStarsMaria SchraderJuliane KöhlerJohanna WokalekIn 1943 Berlin, a Nazi officer's wife meets and starts a passionate affair with a Jewish woman.
- DirectorRob EpsteinJeffrey FriedmanStarsRupert EverettKlaus MüllerKarl GorathHistorian Klaus Müller interviews survivors of the Nazi persecution of homosexuals because of the German Penal Code of 1871, Paragraph 175.
- DirectorEytan FoxStarsOhad KnollerYousef 'Joe' SweidDaniella Wircer"The Bubble" is the story of a group of young people who live in Tel Aviv, Israel. The movie follows the group's difficulties of living in Israel's reality. Their routine breaks when a young Palestinian man enters their lives.
- DirectorEytan FoxStarsJohn Benjamin HickeyNiv NissimLihi KornowskiA New York Times travel writer comes to Tel Aviv after suffering a tragedy. The energy of the city and his relationship with a younger man brings him back to life.
- DirectorBarak HeymannTomer HeymannAlexander Bodin SaphirStarsSaar MaozAlonLondon Gay Men's Chorus BandAt 21, Saar was expelled from his religious kibbutz and fled to the UK. There he created a new family with the London Gay Men's Chorus and now, after 19 years, Saar reaches out to his old family in the hope of a reconciliation.
- DirectorPaul BogartStarsAnne BancroftMatthew BroderickHarvey FiersteinArnold is a gay man working as drag queen in 1971 NYC. He meets a handsome bisexual man.
- DirectorMichael MayerStarsNicholas JacobMichael AloniJameel KhouryA drama centered on the love affair between two men on opposite sides of the Mid-East conflict: Palestinian student Nimer and Roy, an Israeli lawyer.
- DirectorShauly MelamedStarsRumia Ben AriShauly MelamedBetty OzeriHome videos shot during his childhood send director Shauly Melamed on a downward spiral, inspiring a search for other LGBTQ adults who documented themselves during puberty. Shauly finds many such individuals who, in their youth, exposed their non-conforming identities without understanding the secrets the camera beheld. Tom, transgender, grew up in the Ultra-Orthodox town of Safed and unwittingly documented his journey of self-discovery; Betty, born to Iranian immigrants, obsessively filmed her intimate relationships with girlfriends; Rumia found her roots in drag as her mother came out of the closet; Shauly explored his own homosexuality in the aftermath of his father's sudden death. Through watching their childhood films, the four LGBTQ adults are forced to confront the most formative people and experiences from their past.
- DirectorZvi LandsmanA 54-year-old divorced Orthodox Jew, attends conversion therapy, to diminish his unwanted same-sex attractions, in order to marry to a woman. Ben, a social work student, sets out on a quest to discover the truth about conversion therapy.
- DirectorNeta ShenitzerStarsRamon Araujo-PerellóA young drag queen named Ramona Star has big dreams: to become a great and famous drag queen and to make the world a more tolerant place. A decade after making aliya from Brazil, Ramon hopes that he can finally be himself without fear.
- DirectorMordechai VardiThe film tells the stories of LGBT men and women who, for religious reasons, decided to marry against their own sexual orientation, to comply with Torah laws and be accepted into their families and religious communities. Some shared their secret with their partners, some kept it hidden, and some lied even to themselves. After their divorces, they confront the conflicts they repressed: their faith and religious laws; children, family and community; exposure to society and search for a partner. The characters experience a journey of self-acceptance and social activism, as they try to affect a change in their religious environments. The film also follows the women who married and divorced homosexual partners, as well as rabbis and psychologists who seek a solution to an unsolvable conflict.
- DirectorEyal Ben MosheRachel RusinekStarsYiscah SmithYaakov Smith was an ultra-orthodox married man with six children and a pillar of his community, when he left his family, his community, and Israel. It took him 20 years to return - only this time as an observant woman. The documentary by Rachel Rusinek and Eyal Ben Moshe touches honestly and openly on a subject that is both relevant and unspoken. It is also a film about self-acceptance, compassion, love, and family.
- DirectorOfir TraininStarsAmit TsukGalit TsukA father of a family from Nahariya suddenly decides to share his secret desire to become a woman. Despite personal difficulties and social stigmas, the family members insist on staying together, believing that love will overcome all difficulties. Family in Transition offers an intimate, candid, and stirring portrait of the family.
- DirectorRubi GatFredy Hirsch was a proud homosexual Jew. He ran a daycare center for 600 kids in Auschwitz. Freddy was admired by his kids and fought to his last breath to maintain their human dignity. His death on the eve of a revolt he led has remained a mystery until this film.
- DirectorYair QedarIlan PeledThe story of the wonderful transgender actress that never existed - Bebe Goldberg, in this surprising and often amusing Mockumentary/documentary film. 'Bebe' tells the story of the Holocaust survivor, wannabe actress, Chaim Goldberg. later known as Bebe. Having to survive and a young transgender, she had to be a sex worker and later on changed her gender. Performing in Cabarets in Europe, she later returned to Israel where she established her own cabaret. Her story is told by the spectacular Gila, Stephanie and Nancie, the oldest transgender in Israel, teling about Bebe but mostly drawing a collective biography of a generation.
- DirectorLiat DaudiThe special relationship between a secular, queer and feminist woman and her twelve siblings and parents - all members of an Ultra-Orthodox community.
- DirectorDante J. PuglieseStarsBeryl AdamsJulia BairdFrank BarsalonaGet to know the mastermind behind The Beatles' worldwide domination, from an unknown Liverpool band to uncontested modern musical icons.
- 1975– 2h 20m7.7 (58)TV EpisodeDirectorAnthony WallStarsBryan BarrettLionel BartPeter Brown
- DirectorSharon LuzonSuzan, an Arab- Israeli woman, must reshape her identity when she discovers at 35 that she was born intersexual.
- DirectorAvigail SperberAvigail, the director of this film, is dealing with a break-up from her girlfriend and with raising a child that she had with her. At the same time, her religious family in Jerusalem is struggling with the 'demons' threatening to overwhelm their daughter Ariella. Ariella is an Ethiopian girl, who was adopted by Avigail's parents, Rabbi Daniel and Hannah Sperber, when she was four. She is the tenth child, with nine older siblings, each of whom chose a unique path to follow. But Ariella forces the family to contend with problems of another sort: alcoholism, petty thefts, and prison. Does the story of Ariella have an inevitable ending? Can she accept and absorb the love and concern that surround her?
- DirectorShirly BerkovitzThe unbelievable story of 22 year old Or, who secretly finances his sex change operation in Thailand by lying to his conservative parents and then returns home as a woman to face her new life, her family and the cost of living her dream.
- DirectorOmer YefmanStarsChen RotemOmer YefmanA personal journey into bisexual being, the film exposes the passionate, wild world found by the filmmaker in documenting his relationship with Chen, a rising rock star. Facing the pressure all around him, the filmmaker tries to find a way to feel complete without having to explain. Alongside the personal dilemma is his singular family-his brother, sister and their grand childless parents, who are longing for continuity. Like the men he talks to confidentially, they present him with the main conflict in his live. As the inevitable crisis looms, a new factor emerges and illuminates things in a new light.
- DirectorYariv MozerAn untold side of the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict: gay Palestinians - Louie, Abdu and Fares - are hiding in Tel Aviv, and until they escape, they must remain 'the invisible men'.
- DirectorYair Qedar"Mom and Dad, I have something to tell you" is a documentary film (45 min) about the journey parents whose children tell them they are gay are forced to take. Through the film different stories of different families and their different reactions are shown with great honesty. Some of them are optimistic, some heartbreaking, but all reveal a much bigger fact of life: that the love of parents to their children is stronger than any other thing. The movie, which is emotional and sensitive, is lead by Assi Azar, one of the rising TV stars in Israel, a screen writer and the host of the Israeli version of "Big Brother". His personal story is unfolded, including a heart to heart conversation between Assi and his parents, for the first time since he came out when he was 24.
- DirectorYair QedarStarsMichal EdenellyottUzi EvenIn 1985, there were three gays who were out of the closet in Israel. By 1998, there were 3,000. In this short, intensive and dramatic period, Israel came out of the closet in one of the quickest and most colorful revolutions of the end of the 20th century. There was no bloodshed in this revolution, but a rare cooperation between academics, prostitutes, transsexuals, singers, hairdressers and military officers. The director, Yair Qedar, documented this revolution in he's newspaper, The Pink Times. Using rare archival materials, personal stories and touching scenes, and via his own personal diary, the film tells the untold story of the GLBT revolution in Israel in an energetic, bittersweet musical collage.
- DirectorMichael LucasYariv MozerStarsMickey GitzenNitzan HorowitzTzipi LivniWhen many people think of Israel, it is often in terms of modern war or ancient religion. But there is much more to the Jewish state than missiles and prayers. In his debut as a documentary filmmaker, adult-film entrepreneur and political columnist Michael Lucas examines a side of Israel that is too often overlooked: its thriving gay community. Undressing Israel features interviews with a diverse range of local men, including a gay member of Israel's parliament, a trainer who served openly in the army, a young Arab-Israeli journalist, and a pair of dads raising their kids. Lucas also visits Tel Aviv's vibrant nightlife scene and a same-sex wedding in this guided tour to a country that emerged as a pioneer for gay integration and equality.
- DirectorStephanie AbramovichAvital BarakHila Ben BaruchStarsYossi AlmongRoii AmoyaUri Avrahami14 gay and lesbian filmmakers from Tel Aviv present short films about their sexuality.
- DirectorYair HochnerStarsOfer RegirerGuy ZoaretzYuval RazIn two days, Omer will hit a milestone; his 30th birthday. Like many his age, he hasn't found himself. But then Omer is hardly looking. Instead he chooses to loose himself among the stacks of books at the local library, where he works. It is a respite from real life. From time to time he goes on blind dates. He meets Danny on one of his dates. 20 years old and full of enthusiasm, Danny dreams of becoming a dancer. Shirley, Omer's little sister, has her own problems. Aside from being Omer's greatest annoyance, she is in an unconventional relationship with, Michal, owner of the city's hippest coffeehouse and her boss. Just when it seems that Omer has completely lost his spark and all seems lost, Enter Ronen, the handsome journalist who ignites the flame Omer has been seeking. Everyone is hoping for a change. They are waiting for the light. The light that will thaw their frozen hearts. But only one person has the answer, Matilda Rose, the alien loving best-selling novelist can solve the issue; Is love dead or are we just looking in all the wrong places?
- DirectorEytan FoxStarsOhad KnollerYehuda LeviAssi CohenRomance blooms between two soldiers (Knoller, Levi) stationed in an Israeli outpost on the Lebanese border.
- DirectorHilla MedaliaStarsRomy AbergelNoam KanielLiron MatzasTranskids' follows four Israeli teenagers who go through transition in a militaristic society in which teenagers go to the army right after high-school, and religion plays a very strong role in people's identity and is not separated from the state.
- DirectorIdan HaguelStarsShlomi BertonovAriel WolfLena FraifeldCenters around Ben, a politically liberal, gay man who tries to improve his neighborhood in the slums of south Tel Aviv by planting a tree on his street.
- DirectorAstar ElkayamStarsAgam SchusterMor PolanuerNaama PreisTwo follows a couple as they set out on the long road to conception and realize their dream of having a baby. Omer and Bar are deliriously in love and can't wait to start a family. On their first visit to the sperm bank, they are filled with hope and excitement for their future together. When one visit turns into five, however, emotions start to run high and things become tense. When Omer's ex, Yoni, enters the picture as a potential sperm donor, more questions arise as the pair determine the lengths they will go to attain motherhood. An assured directorial debut by Astar Elkayam, Two explores one couple's complex journey with style and nuance, asking along the way if love really conquers all. In her remarkable debut, director Astar Elkayam tackles the physical and emotional challenges two women face when they decide to start a family. Initially optimistic, Bar and Omer embrace the process, eagerly combing through a catalog of potential donors and facing the insemination process with hummer. After Omer repeatedly fails to become pregnant, a sense of failure gnaws at them, threatening to undermine their relationship. Mor Polanuer and Agam Schuster (Your Honour) deliver outstanding performances, realistically capturing the toll that the process takes on the young couple.
- DirectorShirel PelegStarsMoran RosenblattLuise WolframRivka MichaeliWhen two generations of Israeli women fall for a German woman and a Palestinian man, chaos follows. What happens with lovers who don't fit--but do belong together?
- DirectorOri AharonLior HaenMichal HaggiagStarsUri KlauznerYoav RotmanLevana FinkelsteinSecrets, lies, surprises and more are explored in this rich selection of gay short films from Israel.
- DirectorHadas AyalonThe film tells the story of six Gay men that were born in the days of the establishment of the State of Israel. Their stories serve as the film's background for the depiction of the clandestine and undocumented lives of homosexuals in Israel during the 1960-70s; From the time that their sexual identity was considered illegal and a mental illness, up until 1979, when a few brave ones dared to go public and demonstrate for their rights, as the history of the Gay community in Israel began to be told and documented.
- DirectorDana GoldbergEfrat MishoriStarsEvgenia DodinaY. GoldbergSamira SarayaA delicate, poetic cinematic work, consisting of two parallel axes. Lenny Sadeh is a Tel Aviv based scholar who passes through the last day of her life. Yasmin Nasser, an Arab nurse who lives in Jaffa, is interrogated by the police. The worlds of these two women meet for a critical moment and bound together inseparably.
- CreatorZohar Melinek-EzraAfek Testa-LaunerStarsLioz Levi"Al HaRetzef" (Spectrums) is an Israeli documentary series that follows the social and spiritual world of 10 members of the transgender community in Israel.
- DirectorLisa MorgenthauStarsHarriet Jane DaviesIsrael is governed by Orthodox civil law and yet hosts the world's biggest gay pride. Is this a cynical marketing ploy or a political awakening?.
- DirectorVered ArgamanA Deep and sensitive look into the story of a boy who insists to follow the wishes of his heart as he grows up and tries to develop his sexual identity.
- DirectorEytan FoxStarsDana IvgyKeren BergerYael Bar-ZoharIn Tel Aviv, six friends who are appalled by the Israeli entry in the UniverSong competition record their own song on a mobile phone, then are shocked to learn their recording is selected as Israel's entry for next year's competition.
- DirectorDoron EranStarsHen YanniYonatan BarakLimor GoldsteinBased on a song by Yaakov Gilad, film inspired by a 2009 murder at LGBT Bar in Tel Aviv. Song and film tell of Assaf whose father banishes him in the rain. Assaf transforms to Anna, a nurse. Intricate plot, bitter sweet.
- DirectorAdi BarashRuthie ShatzStarsDuduNinoA look into the lives of teenage male prostitutes working the area known as the "Electricity Garden" in Tel Aviv.
- DirectorYun SuhStarsBoodyRavit GevaSa'Ar NetanelInterviews with the owners and diverse patrons of a Jerusalem gay bar called "Shushan."
- DirectorDover KoshashviliStarsGuy AdlerOz ZehaviMichael AloniThe 1956, a few years after the War of Independence and the establishment of the State of Israel. Immigration is at its peak, transit camps are scattered throughout the country. This is the story of one platoon at Training Base 4, a three-month boot camp boot comprised of conscripts from Ashkenazi Jews, new immigrants from North Africa and Europe, Holocaust survivors, as well as both secular and religious individuals. All the platoon members are physically unfit or mentally disabled. They find themselves on the extreme margins of society, at the bottom of the social ladder, and dream of ascending to the top. Common precepts such as "melting pot," "team spirit," and "one for all and all for one," remain unfulfilled. This is a battle for the individual's survival, a war for status, identity, and independence. A battle to attain the loftiest dreams, a war waged by individuals against their destiny.
- DirectorAmos GuttmanStarsJonathan SagallAmi TraubBen LevinA young gay Israeli man works in his grandmother's store while dreaming of becoming a film-maker.