First Israeli Film Festival Launches In Bangalore, India

Israeli cinema is continuing to gain international acclaim, now with a month-long film festival starting Thursday, July 3rd, in Bangalore, India.

Nine popular Israeli films will be screened at the festival. Israel’s Consul General in Bangalore, Menahem Kanafi, said he hoped the festival would be widely attended and bring the two countries culturally close.

The debut film at the festival is the classic “Turn Left at the end of the World,” about a family of Jewish Indians who emigrate to Israel in the 1960’s and their interaction with Moroccan families in a small development town in the Negev.

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The other films are  “The Band’s Visit” (2007), “Footnote” (2011), “Album 61” (2013), “Jelly Fish” (2007), “Sweet Mud” (2006), “5 Hours from Paris” (2009), “By Summer’s End” (2011) and “Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi” (2003).

“Album 61” is about Israeli chess Grand Master Boris Gelfand who played against Vishwanathan Anand from India in the 2012 World Chess Championship.

“Album 61”, by Halil Efrat

“The festival will expose [India to] the facets of life in Israel and point out universal connections between Israeli and Indian art and life,” said Menahem Kanafi.

The year-old Consulate General of Israel in Bangalore, the third after Delhi and Mumbai, will be hosting the film festival from July 3rd to 31st, jointly with Suchitra Film Society and Bangalore Cultural Partners, according to “The Hindu”.