Documentary film offers an artistic perspective on the stuff life is made of – everything in and around us, from the material to the metaphoric, the mundane and the mysterious. Whether providing insight to worlds and lives far from our own or inviting us to discover and reflect upon our own surroundings and situation; documentaries challenge and inspire us to look more closely, see farther, see differently.
Docaviv celebrates its 20th anniversary with a 10-day festival taking place from May 17 – 16, 2018 at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque and other venues throughout the city. Opening the festival will be Dudu Tassa & the Kuwaitis: Don’t be so Modest, You Aren’t That Great!, followed by Dudu Tassa & the Kuwaitis in concert – streamed live on the Docaviv facebook page. The festival will present over 120 new documentaries, with more than 260 screenings.
Festival highlights include: Shirkers, winner of the Directing Award in World Cinema Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival; The Prince and the Dybbuk, winner of the award for Best Documentary on Cinema at the Venice Film Festival; The Other Side of Everything, winner of the IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary; McQueen, the new documentary about the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen; Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars; The Waldheim Waltz, winner of the Original Documentary award at the Berlinale; The Poetess by Andy Wolff and Stefanie Brockhaus; Faithfull by actress Sandrine Bonnaire; Ex Libris: The New York Public Library by award-winning director Frederick Wiseman; RBG, a documentary about Ruth Bader Ginsburg; and the world premiere of 5 Men and a Caravaggio by director and writer Xiaolu Guo.
New to this year’s festival will be the short film competition, providing a platform for a genre that is all too often overlooked by theatres. The winner will automatically qualify for entry into the Academy Awards Short Film competition. Celebrating the old and the new, the festival will revive the drive-in of yesteryear with a screening at Tel Aviv’s former drive-in theatre using innovative screening technology by Muvix. The festival will also expand its VR360 program, screening six unique documentary projects from around the world in the Cinematheque’s New Media room. The films will be viewed through VR headsets. Admission is free, but pre-registration is required.
Marking the festival’s 20th edition, founder Ilana Tzur has curated a selection of films from the festival’s first years: No. 17, Bread Day, Ten Minutes Older, Battu’s Bioscope and Crumb. Taking the anniversary celebrations out to the dance floor, a special screening of Studio 54, a documentary about the club that became the symbol of the disco era, will take place at Romano House, followed by a disco party featuring the club’s original playlists.
Festival guests include: Ruth Beckermann, director of The Waldheim Waltz, winner of the Original Documentary award at the Berlinale; directors Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosolowski, presenting their film The Prince and the Dybbuk, winner of the Best Documentary on Cinema award at the Venice Film Festival; acclaimed Swiss director Markus Imhoof, presenting his latest film Eldorado; Lorna Tucker, director of Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist, the opening film of the Festival’s fashion section Doc-Couture; and Maryam Ebrahimi, director of Stronger than a Bullet.
Tickets may be ordered online from the Docaviv website.
