Jerusalem Film Festival

Overview

The Jerusalem Film Festival is Israel's primary film festival and the country's main competitive platform for both Israeli and international cinema. The 43rd edition ran July 9 to 19, 2026, screening approximately 200 films to an audience of roughly 70,000 across 10 days. The festival awarded prizes totalling approximately NIS 1 million (approximately USD 275,000) across its Israeli and international competitions, short film and experimental film programmes, and industry initiatives.

The festival opens each year at Sultan's Pool, an outdoor amphitheatre beneath the Old City walls, with an audience of 6,000 guests. The 2026 opening night featured the Israeli premiere of "Tell Me Everything" by Moshe Rosenthal, screened in the presence of the filmmakers and cast. Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa received the festival's lifetime achievement award and served as jury chair for the Israeli competition. The festival hosted more than 25 international guests in 2026.

Screenings take place at the Jerusalem Cinematheque and the Lev Smadar theater. Israeli films that have premiered at the Jerusalem Film Festival have gone on to win awards at international festivals and receive Oscar nominations. The winner of the Israeli Short Film Competition is eligible for Academy Award consideration.

Submission Details

Submissions for the 2026 Jerusalem Film Festival were accepted through the festival's submission portal. Key details:

The submission fee is non-refundable and is required before a film is considered for selection. In case of selection, the film cannot be withdrawn from the festival programme. No participating film may be screened in Israel outside the festival venues prior to its official presentation at the festival. Submitted films must not have been shown or released anywhere in any form (including festival screenings, DVD release, television, or internet broadcast) more than twelve months prior to the festival's starting date.

Competition Sections

• International Competition - international films competing for the Nechama Rivlin Award for Best International Film
• Haggiag Competition for Israeli Feature Films - the top Israeli competition, with the Haggiag Award for Best Feature as its top prize
• Diamond Competition for Israeli Documentary Cinema - Israeli documentaries
• Israeli Short Film Competition - short films, with the winner eligible for Academy Award submission
• International Debuts Competition - first features from international filmmakers, sponsored by GWFF
• In the Spirit of Freedom Competition - films addressing human rights and freedom, with the Cummings Award
• Jewish Experience - films exploring Jewish culture and history
• PitchPoint - industry pitching competition for feature films in development
• Art and Experimental Cinema - video art and experimental film competition

Awards and Prizes

The 43rd edition (2026) awarded prizes totalling approximately NIS 1 million across all competitions.

Israeli Competition Winners

• Haggiag Award for Best Israeli Feature - "Where To?" (dir. Assaf Machnes), which also won the Anat Pirchi Award for Screenplay and the Anat Pirchi Award for Best Performance (Iyhab Salami)
• Diamond Award for Best Israeli Documentary - "I Am New" (dir. Yael Abecassis)
• GWFF Award for Best Israeli Debut - "You'll Find Me, Okay?" (dir. Yola Gdaron)
• Diamond Award for Best Israeli Short - "The Other Body" (dir. Orit Fox Rotem)
• Aharon Emmanuel Award for Cinematography - Midan Arma for "How to Feel"
• Aliza and Micha Shagrir Award for Editing - Gal Rosenblut for "Amal"
• Yossi Mula Award for Music - "The Joker" (composed by Talmudi)
• Diamond Award for Best Short (Second Place) - "Fireworks" (dir. Ilay Fried)
• Best Performance in Short Film - Dar Zuzovsky for "Grandpa"
• Best Animation - "Grandpa" (dir. Liron Topaz)

International Competition Winners

• Nechama Rivlin Award for Best International Film - "The Dreamed Adventure" (dir. Valeska Grisebach, Germany)
• Best Performance Award - Karlis Arnolds Abots for "Ulya" (dir. Vaesturs Kairis, Latvia/Poland/Estonia/Lithuania)
• GWFF Award for Best International Debut - "17" (dir. Kosara Mitic, North Macedonia)
• Special Mention (International Debut) - "Panda" (dir. Xinyang Zhang, Singapore/Hong Kong/China)
• Chantal Akerman Award for Experimental Documentary - "Subliminal Flood" (dir. Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, Ukraine/Germany)

Other Awards

• Cummings Award (In the Spirit of Freedom) - "Skateboarding Is Not for Girls" (dir. Dina Duma, North Macedonia)
• PitchPoint Grand Prize - "Three Days in Baku" (dir. Yonatan Gurfinkel)
• PitchPoint Jury Prize - "Leaving Gor" (dir. Brachi Haisrich)
• Gesher Foundation Award for Multicultural Cinema - "Acoustics" (dir. Itamar Elkalai)
• Jerusalem Creator Award - Omri Levi
• Afterglow Award (Video Art and Experimental Cinema) - "Bon Voyage on Land" (dir. Gadi Yampel)

Festival History

The Jerusalem Film Festival was founded in 1984 by Lia van Leer, who also founded the Jerusalem Cinematheque. Van Leer established the festival to bring international attention to Israeli films and to create a world-class festival in Israel's capital. The festival has operated continuously since its founding, running for 43 editions through 2026.

Past guests have included Warren Beatty, Robert De Niro, Lillian Gish, Marcello Mastroianni, Kirk Douglas, Jane Fonda, Liv Ullmann, and Wim Wenders. The festival's opening night at Sultan's Pool, with the Old City walls as a backdrop, has become one of the most visually distinctive opening ceremonies on the international festival circuit.

Festival director Roni Mahadav-Levin and artistic director Orr Sigoli led the 2026 edition. The 44th Jerusalem Film Festival will take place in July 2027.

What Filmmakers Should Know

For Israeli filmmakers, the Jerusalem Film Festival is the most important domestic platform. The Haggiag Competition for Israeli Feature Films is the country's top competitive prize for narrative features, and the winner of the Israeli Short Film Competition is eligible for Academy Award consideration. Israeli films that premiere at JFF have a documented track record of going on to international festival success and Oscar nominations.

The submission fee of EUR 35 is moderate by international standards. The 12-month eligibility window is broader than many European festivals, which typically require films to have been completed within 6 to 12 months of the festival date. The strict rule to note is that selected films cannot be screened anywhere in Israel outside the festival venues prior to their official festival presentation.

International filmmakers benefit from the festival's large audience (approximately 70,000 attendees) and the concentration of Israeli press, distributors, and industry professionals. The PitchPoint competition is the festival's industry platform for projects in development, offering cash prizes and service grants. The In the Spirit of Freedom and Jewish Experience sections provide thematic programming tracks that may align with films addressing human rights or Jewish cultural themes.

See Also

Calculate your total festival submission costs and projected return using the Festival ROI Calculator. Estimate your acceptance probability with the Festival Acceptance Odds Estimator. For festival circuit strategy and planning, see Film Festival Strategy. For understanding the Middle Eastern film market and international sales, see International Film Markets. Submit through the Jerusalem Film Festival submission portal.