The period leading up to our national day will see a feast of Irish film in several locations in Israel, with no fewer than twenty screenings between 7 and 17 March. 

 

Most of these will be within the framework of the well-established Irish film festival, which will involve screenings of five recent Irish films in the Cinematheques of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa. 

 

The festival gets off to a light-hearted start with A Bump Along the Way, about a mother and daughter placed in an unusual and interesting situation. The unusual continues with the horror comedy Extra Ordinary. Lost Lives is a moving illustration of the impact of the Northern Ireland “Troubles”, in which more than 3,700 people were killed. Going back to an earlier time in Irish history, Black 47 tells the story of how one Irishman, finding that his family members had died in the Great Famine, mounts his own personal war against those he believes responsible. We are brought back to the present and to parent-child relationships (father and son this time) with End of Sentence, the action of which takes place on both sides of the Atlantic. The characters fly to Ireland, something which will become easier for people in Israel very soon, with the opening of a regular direct air connection between Tel Aviv and Dublin in May 2020.  

 

Viewers who have not yet seen Garry Keane and Andrew McConnell’s acclaimed documentary Gaza will have two further chances to do so, in Holon on 7 March and in Jerusalem on 14 March as part of the Francophonie film festival. 

 

Finally, on 13-14 March the EPOS International Art Film Festival, taking place at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, will screen three films about Irish-born or Irish-connected artists: Dublin-born modern artist Sean Scully, Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney, and singer-songwriter Liam Gallagher of the group “Oasis”. 

 

The full list of screening times and locations is below. Tickets are available from the venues. 

 

Date	Time	Film	Venue
7 March	17:00	Gaza	Holon Cinematheque
10 March	20:30	A Bump Along the Way	Tel Aviv Cinematheque
11 March	18:00	A Bump Along the Way	Jerusalem Cinematheque
11 March	19:00	Extra Ordinary	Tel Aviv Cinematheque
12 March	19:00	Lost Lives	Tel Aviv Cinematheque
12 March	22:00	Extra Ordinary	Haifa Cinematheque
13 March	12:00	Unstoppable (Sean Scully)	Tel Aviv Museum of Art
13 March	15:00	End of Sentence	Jerusalem Cinematheque
13 March	20:00	End of Sentence	Haifa Cinematheque
14 March	12:00	Seamus Heaney and the Music of What Happens	Tel Aviv Museum of Art
14 March	15:30	A Bump Along the Way	Haifa Cinematheque
14 March	17:00	Gaza	Jerusalem Cinematheque
14 March	18:00	As It Was (Liam Gallagher)	Tel Aviv Museum of Art
15 March	20:15	Black 47	Haifa Cinematheque
15 March	20:30	Lost Lives	Jerusalem Cinematheque
15 March	21:00	Black 47	Tel Aviv Cinematheque
16 March	18:00	Extra Ordinary	Jerusalem Cinematheque
16 March	19:00	End of Sentence	Tel Aviv Cinematheque
16 March	20:30	Lost Lives	Haifa Cinematheque
17 March	20:30	Black 47	Jerusalem Cinematheque