Israeli Film Series
In collaboration with the Leah Posluns Theatre at Prosserman JCC,
this series showcases the excellence of Israeli storytelling on film.
TICKETS NOW ON-SALE FOR THE WINTER 2026 EDITION
CANADIAN PREMIERE
Wednesday, February 11th at 7pm
Leah Posluns Theatre, Prosserman JCC, 4588 Bathurst Street
Tickets $18 (taxes + fees included)
Free parking Available
Mili Avital (Prisoners of War, Kugel, Noodle) stars in a sweeping saga based on the beloved novel by Israeli author Meir Shalev, The Loves of Judith. In 1970s Israel, Esther teams up with a university professor (Ori Pfeffer, Munich) to uncover a secret from her family’s past, focusing on a mysterious woman from 1930s British Mandate Palestine. They unravel the tale of Yehudit (Ana Ularu), who arrives at an agricultural settlement and captivates three men. As the past unfolds, Esther uncovers an exciting yet tragic love story and a shocking revelation.
CANADIAN PREMIERE
Wednesday, March 11th at 7pm
Leah Posluns Theatre, Prosserman JCC, 4588 Bathurst Street
Tickets $18 (taxes + fees included)
Free parking Available
Winner of the Best Israeli Film at the 2024 Haifa Film Festival, Real Estate offers a compelling look at a volatile relationship amid the realities of modern city life. With their baby due any day and their Tel Aviv apartment under demolition, Adam and Tamara set out on a frantic, day-long hunt for a new home in Haifa. Along the way, unexpected obstacles test their marriage while also drawing them closer. Driven by nuanced performances, Real Estate becomes a moving and quietly humorous drama. “Sensitive, authentic, funny, moving, and even packs a punch – it’s struck that perfect sweet spot between drama and comedy.” (Mako)
PAST SCREENINGS
TORONTO PREMIERE
Wednesday, January 14th at 7pm
Having left a strict Orthodox community at a young age, filmmaker Pinhas Veuillet offers a powerful morality tale that centres on a religious Sephardic family that lives in the heart of the Ashkenazi community in Bnei Brak. Having just celebrated his bar mitzvah, Rafael is considered to be the most qualified and dedicated student in his yeshiva, but he discovers that his familial background will prohibit his acceptance into the community’s prestigious institutes. This triggers a struggle between his father, Shmuel, and the headmaster of the Talmud Torah, a conflict that leads to unexpected and fateful twists.
ONTARIO PREMIERE
Wednesday, December 10th at 7pm
A captivating Israeli noir thriller set in the scorching heat of the small town of Afula. Daphna (Tali Sharon) is an outspoken and pugnacious police officer who has been relocated from Tel Aviv. When a former beauty queen and army widow disappears, Daphna raises a troubling question – why isn’t anybody looking for her? Fearing the worst, Daphna will stop at nothing in order to solve the mystery. Writer-Director Maya Driefuss intelligently adapts the Hollywood crime thriller to a specific Israeli reality, while Tali Sharon offers a fresh, sensational and nuanced lead performance.
Wednesday, November 19th at 7pm
Israeli star Adir Miller (The Matchmaker, Monkey House) teams with directors Doron and Yoav Paz (Plan A, The Golem) to tell this deeply personal true story. Arnon Noble was saved as a baby when his mother bribed a Hungarian Arrow Cross soldier with a precious ring to spare his life. Now a devout man living in Israel, his world is shaken when his beloved mother is hospitalized. Determined to uncover the truth behind his family’s past, he embarks on an emotional journey to Budapest with his estranged daughter, searching for the ring in the hope that it might once again bring salvation.
CANADIAN PREMIERE
Wednesday, April 2nd 2025 at 7pm
Thursday, April 3rd 2025 at 7pm
Lior Raz (Fauda) stars as Shalom Gottlieb, a former partisan leader and factory foreman in an Israeli working-class neighborhood in 1954. Eva (Rotem Sela, Beauty and the Baker) is a beautiful seamstress who arrives in town with her daughter. For Shalom, she represents a chance at happiness and a life filled with beauty and laughter. But rumors of her past as a Kapo during the Holocaust shake the community, and Shalom’s desire to be with Eva betray both his family and the fellow survivors living in the neighborhood. Amidst these swirling suspicions, he is determined to discover the truth.
Wednesday, February 19th 2025 at 7pm
In this dystopian dark comedy, real-life musician and actress Hila Ruach stars as Tala, an offbeat singer and single mother desperate to support her baby. She takes a job at an unconventional factory where breast milk is stored and distributed to mothers who cannot or choose not to breastfeed. A chance meeting with Nili, a confused young mother and one of the company’s wealthy clients (played by Hadas Yaron from Shtisel and Fill the Void) prompts the two women to question their social positions.
Wednesday, January 22nd 2025 at 7pm
After breaking box office records with their first film, the characters from Matchmaking return with this endearing romantic comedy set against Ashkenazi and Sepharic cultural tensions. Maor Schwitzer (Valley of Tears, Shtisel) stars as Baruch Auerbach, a graduate student who continues to live in a small room at the yeshiva where he studied and now serves as the faithful assistant to the matchmaker Malchi (Irit Kaplan, The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem). When Malchi assigns him the task of picking up her younger daughter Shira from the airport, he decides it’s time for him to get married but struggles to be seen as an eligible suitor. Featuring a stellar supporting cast that includes Reymonde Amsallem (Seven Blessings), this sequel is a fun trip in its own right that does not require familiarity with its predecessor.
Wednesday, November 20th 2024 at 7pm
In this cheeky Mossad comedy, Dov is a Jewish American spy in Istanbul desperate to convince his Israeli peers that he has located a legendary terrorist. On the verge of being forced to retire, he is desperate to prove that he is the hero he always thought he would be. The film is inspired by the filmmaker’s own experience as an American who joined the Israeli Special Forces, and felt the clash between American culture and Israeli machismo.
Wednesday, October 30th 2024 at 7pm
Albert, an aging war veteran (brilliantly played by Shmuel Vilozni) makes a drunken bet: he will drive his beat up tractor (top speed: 35km/hour… downhill) the length of Israel to Eilat—in one week. Ben, his grumpy, unemployed son, is obligated to join him. Their funny and bittersweet journey towards forgiveness and understanding takes them on a road trip from their kibbutz through Israel’s neglected backyard, meeting others who also strive for a better life.
Wednesday, September 25th 2024 at 7pm
Israel’s submission to the Oscars, Seven Blessings unfolds over a riotous week of “sheva brachot,” seven nights where two newlyweds are honoured with festive dinners. What is meant to be a week of unbridled celebration becomes a catalyst for family conflict,as unresolved issues stemming from an old Moroccan tradition rise to the surface. Adding to the tension are the groom’s French Ashkenazi parents unused to Sephardic traditions. Made by the director of Noodle, the film boasts a stellar cast led by Reymonde Amsallem (The Attack).
Wednesday, May 15th 2024 at 7pm
In this captivating and surprisingly nuanced musical set in the euphoria of Israel’s 1967 victory, the lives of two couples from Kibbutz Netzer Sirani take dramatic turns post-war. Neta Agmon’s acting career takes off just as her husband comes back from the war, forever changed. While Neta’s star rises, she faces a personal battle at home, trying to reconnect with the man she once knew. Amidst a nation celebrating, they navigate the unseen aftermath of war and the challenge of keeping love alive.
Wednesday, April 10th 2024 at 7pm
In his most recent film performance, Sasson Gabai (The Band’s Visit, Karaoke) offers an immensely moving performance as Shimon, an Israeli who arrives in Paris to visit an old friend and spend time with his daughter, who has settled there with her husband and child. Once he begins to sense that something is wrong with her marriage, Shimon gets drawn into a secret life he never would have predicted.
Wednesday, March 20th 2024 at 7pm
In this charming romantic comedy, two mismatched seniors find love when circumstances conspire to bring them together. When Tami, an absent-minded widow, accidentally hits 70-year-old widower Beno with her car, the last thing on her mind is romance, but she invites him over to ensure that he won’t sue her. Though her cheerful disposition contrasts sharply with his sarcastic demeanor, she finds herself falling for him. Can their budding relationship survive the scrutiny of their children and interfering neighbours? A heartfelt film starring two Israeli film icons, Nitza Shaul (Ephraim Kishon’s The Policeman) and the late Yehuda Barkan.
Wednesday, February 21st 2024 at 7pm
In a dusty village on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, the late Morris Mandabon appears to his son in a dream and orders him to re-open their family’s now-boarded-up movie theatre, an act that revitalizes the community and reawakens old passions. An Israeli answer to Cinema Paradiso, this lovely and evocative film is also filled with a spirited soundtrack of Greek, Israeli and Indian music.
Wednesday, January 31st 2024 at 7pm
In this romantic comedy by Erez Tadmor (Magic Men and A Matter of Size), Moti Bernstein is the son every mother wants and the student every Rabbi loves to teach. And he is not bad looking either…. In search of a wife, he meets the best girls in the Jewish Orthodox world. However, he only falls for the one girl he can never have, his sister’s friend Nechama, who hails from a Moroccan Mizrahi family—a taboo for his established Ashkenzi community. Moti will be forced to go out on a limb in the most unexpected and unusual of ways.
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