Comedy films to bring out the laughs at the 13th Israeli Film Festival

November 5-6, 2014

Greenbelt 3

Ayala Center, Makati

For two days, the Embassy of Israel will serve Laughter from the Holy Land as they present the 13^th Israeli Film Festival happening this November 5 & 6, 2014 at the Greenbelt 3. A total of eight comedy films, both classic and contemporary, will be screened for free over the course of two days.

To be screened at the festival are a couple of films by director Gur Bentwich namely Up the Wrong Tree (2013) which is about a restless bum and cynic who finds solace up a tree after he gets thrown off by his girlfriend and Total Love (2000) which is about a girl’s dilemma on who among her three former lovers to choose when they attempt to rescue her after she gets arrested in India. Another contemporary film in the lineup is Hunting Elephants (2013) by Reshi Lefe which tells the story of Jonathan who thinks that robbing a bank is his only recourse when he goes down in his luck with his finances.

Films from the past decades in the festival include Alex is Lovesick (1986) directed by Boaz Davidson where12 year old Polish-Jewish Alex falls in love with his classmate and also with his aunt who came from Israel, Pick a Card (1997) by Julie Shles which is about little people trying to fulfill big dreams in a big city, and The Matchmaker (2010) by Avi Nesher, a story of a teenage boy, a matchmaker working near a theater showing only love stories, who ends up falling in love with a woman who is all about women’s rights, free love and rock and roll. The oldest film in the festival, Big Dig (1969) by Ephraim Kishon is about a lunatic who digs a canal out of compulsion. And in a crazy twist, the only one who points out the lunacy of this project gets tagged as the lunatic.

Lastly, A Matter of Size (2009) returns and caps the 13^th Israeli Film Festival. This movie, directed by Sharon Maymon and Erez Tadmor tells the story of a group of overweight men who form a sumo wrestling club in order to deal with their personal issues. This film was also part of the 11^th Israeli Film Festival back in 2011. All films are in Hebrew with English subtitles.

Here is the 13^th Israeli Film Festival screening schedule:

November 5, 2014

1:00 PM Alex is Lovesick

3:00 PM Total Love

5:00 PM Up the Wrong Tree

7:30 PM Hunting Elephants

November 6, 2014

1:00 PM Big Dig

3:00 PM Pick a Card

5:00 PM The Matchmaker

7:30 PM A Matter of Size (Special Screening)