Founded in 1983, the Haifa International Film Festival is Israel's first and largest film festival. The 40th edition of the festival takes place over ten days, from December 31, 2024 to January 11, 2025.
Films are shown in five theatres from morning to midnight, and each year around 80.000 people attend the screenings, with many more enjoying outdoor activities and open-air screenings.
Haifa, the venue of the festival, is a city that has become a symbol of coexistence, tolerance and peace, ideals that the Haifa Film Festival wholeheartedly promotes. In this sense, the opening ceremony was full of emotions, combining the celebration of cinematic art with a solemn tribute to the victims and hostages of October 7, 2023.
The opening show, on the venue's esplanade, featured street performers, jazz musicians, dancers and a mariachi band and symbolized Haifa's recovery following the ceasefire with Lebanon signed in November, which ended months of missile attacks by Hezbollah.
Yaron Shamir, the festival's artistic director, recalled with emotion that last year's event had to be abruptly cancelled on October 7 due to the outbreak of war. This year, the event, which is normally held during Sukkot, was rescheduled and began around the turn of the year.
One of the highlights of the evening was the tribute to Pnina Blayer, the festival's former director, who passed away in June 2024. Current festival director Avi Nesher highlighted Blayer's vision, describing her as a festival creator who supported Israeli filmmakers and cultivated a space of tolerance and creativity.
The first screening of the 40th edition of the festival was of the Iranian film The Seed of the Sacred Fig, by Mohammad Rasoulof, which takes a critical look at the repressive policies of the Iranian government.