The 42nd Haifa International Film Festival opened tonight, September 26, with a reception and an opening ceremony at the Haifa Auditorium. The festival runs until October 3, with Israeli and international films on screens across Haifa.
The night belonged to Avi Nesher. His new film, Our Loves (האהבות שלנו), was the opening film, and he also received the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award. That’s a neat pairing: an award for decades of Israeli cinema, given on the night of a film about a chapter of Israeli history that’s still being written.
Our Loves is a 2026 Israeli film, 117 minutes long, in Hebrew, Arabic and Moroccan Arabic. It follows seven characters in failing relationships, each convinced that October 6, 2023, the day love died, was the worst day of their lives. The next morning was October 7. Nesher has built much of his career on stories that tie individual lives to larger moments in Israeli society, and Our Loves keeps to that line.
Actor Lior Ashkenazi hosted the ceremony, which featured Eurovision representative Yuval Raphael, Iranian singer and actress Golazin Ardestani, the Haifa Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eran Reemy, and other performers. Over the coming week the program covers the Israeli and international competitions, documentaries, classics and special events.
I was there tonight and photographed Avi Nesher during the opening. Seeing a veteran filmmaker at the center of an opening night built around his own new film made for a rather nice photographic moment. It’s one of those occasions where the person behind the movie becomes part of the festival story.