Israel Film Festival returns to Montreal

The Montreal Israel Film Festival is back this month, bringing acclaimed feature films and, for the first time, Sunday morning documentaries.

The 7th annual Montreal Israel Film Festival runs from May 14 – 23, and is sure to have a movie for every taste.

Precious Life will be hitting the screen at this year’s festival. Precious Life is a remarkable documentary about Dr. Raz Somech, an Israeli doctor working to save the life of an infant boy from Gaza who suffers from a fatal immunity disease. Dr. Somech will attend the film, addressing the crowd and answering questions following the film.

One of Israel's most successful filmmakers, Eran Riklis, the renowned director of Lemon Tree and The Syrian Bride, will also be on hand to present and discuss his recent work The Human Resources Manager. The film was selected as Israel’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2010 Academy Awards.

The Human Resources Manager is a story about rediscovery and humanity. After a foreign worker at an Israeli bakery is killed in a bombing in Jerusalem, an aggressive journalist creates a scandal after the unclaimed body lies in the morgue for a week. To counter the negative image, the company instructs her human resources manager to accompany the body back to its native land. Far from home on a mission to honour a woman he didn’t even know, the HR manager encounters many obstacles. However, on the way, he rediscovers himself and his own humanity.

Also paying a visit to the Festival is Tomer Heymann, whose documentary films have been screened and won awards around the globe. He will present his work I Shot My Love which follows the relationship between Heymann, his German boyfriend, and his fiercely protective Israeli mother.

Heymann will also be presenting Bridge Over the Wadi, a film about an elementary school in the Galilee, which was established by Arab and Jewish parents. The school aims to bring children together, but it is soon discovered that there are many barriers that need to be broken down.

The Matchmaker is also part of this year’s Festival. The most successful Israeli film of 2010, The Matchmaker tells the story of Arik, a 16-year-old boy living in Haifa in the 1960s. When Arik meets Bride, a Holocaust survivor and a mysterious matchmaker, and is asked to work for him, Arik readily agrees. However, Bride is not whom he seems, and Arik is forced to make a difficult decision that will affect both their lives forever.

With a change of venue to accommodate more people this year, and a new Sunday morning and afternoon screening option, the Montreal Israel Film Festival is sure to see one of its most successful years yet.

To find out more about all the films that will be screened, or to order tickets, check out the Israel Film Festival website at www.israelfilmfestival.ca