As we commemorate Israel’s Independence Day, we invite you to explore TJFF’s curated Israeli movie playlist on J-Flix, their free streaming archive. From documentaries to dramas, the selections showcases the diversity and richness of Israeli cinema. Come join us in honouring Israel’s cultural heritage and cinematic achievements. Chag Sameach!
J-Flix is a FREE digital initiative of the Toronto Jewish Film Foundation showcasing the rich legacy of Jewish content films from Canada’s leading presenter for almost 30 years. Over 100 curated titles are available for streaming including documentaries, feature length narratives, shorts, along with beloved archival films – all of which represent the global and inclusive flavour of TJFF programming.
Check back often because new films are added weekly!
Register for J-Flix for free on j-flix.com
Film selections available on J-Flix include these tiles, and more!
ALBUM 61
70 mins | Israel | 2013
Director: Halil Efrat
Languages: English, Hebrew, Russian
Subtitle: English
Filmmaker Halil Efrat turns a chess competition into a moving and suspenseful spectacle where so much is at stake. Album 61 chronicles a twenty-day World Chess Championship through the eyes of one of its main competitors, Boris Gelfand, a Russian immigrant now living in Israel. Boris has spent his entire life getting ready for this moment. He was raised to become a champion at the age of six. At its heart, the film is a tender story about family relationships, as Boris’s father had to live his own dreams through his son under the Soviet regime. Efrat won the Best Documentary Director prize at last year’s Jerusalem Film Festival.
HEART MELT AND KNEES TREMBLE
13 mins | Israel | 2014
Directors: Ofeq Shemer, Ada Rimon
Genre: Shorts
Language: Hebrew
This experimental animated short tells the story of the Dead Sea and its commodification within Israeli history.
SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN
99 mins | Israel, Hungary | 2009
Director: Omri Givon
Genre: Dramas
Language: Hebrew
Galia (stunningly played by Reymonde Amsellem of Three Mothers), a young woman from Jerusalem, cannot recall the terrorist bombing that left her boyfriend in a coma and herself with significant memory loss. As people and objects begin to resurface from that fateful day – a necklace, a handsome stranger named Boaz (Eldad Prives) – Galia begins piecing together the events in the form of flashbacks and hallucinations that send her back to that traumatic incident. All of this culminates in an unforgettable final act that will stay with you long after the movie ends. Seven Minutes in Heaven transcends the sensationalism one associates with a film about a suicide bombing, and becomes a mesmerizing and complex character study that probes the deeper themes of memory and identity.
A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS
99 mins | Israel, United States | 2015
Director: Natalie Portman
Language: Hebrew
Vividly capturing the Jewish state in its infancy, Natalie Portman brings Amos Oz’ beloved and best-selling memoir to the big screen. Portman plays Oz’s mother Fania, who struggles to raise her son in Jerusalem on the eve of Israel’s independence and during the early years of the country.
MAX BAER’S LAST RIGHT HOOK
54 mins | Israel | 2006
Director: Avida Livny
Languages: English, Hebrew
Palestine, 1942. When a luckless promoter brings Jewish American ex-boxing champion Max Baer to Tel Aviv to pit him against a German opponent, the Jewish strongman comes to represent the aspirations of the Jews in Palestine. Cleverly fusing fact and myth, director Avida Livny creates an exciting and romantic story filled with colourful characters including Jewish gangsters, a glamorous actress and an assassin.
