SOUTH<strong>FILM</strong> FESTIVALA hot, young cinematic event. It began with a modest screening of our graduates films at the Tel-AvivCinematheque, moved three years ago to the Sderot Cinemathèque where it has flourished and become abubbling, highly visible cinematic event.The enthusiasm stirred up by the festival has been converted into additional resources which have made it aninternational event, presenting our graduates’ films alongside a rich mixture of screenings and events.Turn left at the End of theWorldIn 2003, the Southern Film Festival opened with thescreening of the latest film by director Avi Nesher“Turn Left at the End of the World” and theannouncement that henceforward a new Israeli filmwould open each festival. During the festival, newfilms - local and international - were shown, with talksby cineastes from Turkey, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, andthe USA, among others.As well as the master-class given by actor RichardGere, workshops were held with several directors -Eitan Fuchs (Walking on Water), Gur Bentwich(Something Total), Eitan Green (Henry’s Dream) withthe producer Osnat Trabelsi (Arna’s Children) withdistributor Dvora Zimmerman among others.The festival was held in conjunction with the SderotCinematheque, the Forum of Documentary Creators,and the Mendel Institute for Leadership, and themeetings and workshops were open to the generalpublic. The festival, mostly produced by volunteers,invites students to an intensive experience in complexproduction techniques and deepens the ties betweenthem and local citizens, as well as the entire filmcommunity.The festival has several sponsors; this year, the mostnotable was Keshet - the franchisee of Channel Two,which took on itself the task of publicizing the festivalin television broadcasts, and also transmitted a morningtelevision program from the college.This year, the Southern Film Festival, which is opento everyone at no charge, won extensive exposure inthe media, including a special supplement in the TimeOut magazine.From “Turn Left at the End of the World”±π
“South” – “Migration”–“Daring”Every year, the festival focuses on a keynote issue.This year we chose the concept “daring” and exploredits significance in cinematic creation.The previous year, it dealt with the experience ofmigration, and brought together cinema creators whohad migrated to and from Israel.Our first festival highlighted the term “south” and itscinematic representations. The decision to highlighta different, relevant subject each year contributes tothe festival’s explorative nature and uniqueness.From the films screened at the graduates film contest.≤∞