The first Iranian Film Festival in Israel opened on Sunday in Sderot, a southern Israeli city attacked by Iran-backed Hamas militants on Oct. 7 2023, which organizers say will promote cultural dialogue between the peoples of the two nominal enemies.
The festival was conceived by Dana Sameah, an Israeli of Iranian heritage who said in an interview with Iran International on Sunday that she hoped to create a bridge between Iran and Israel by founding the festival.
The two-day event, titled “Nowruz Fest,” is being held at the Sderot Cinematheque, located less than a mile from the Gaza border, and streamed on Facebook to allow potential viewers in Iran to watch, although many social media platforms are blocked inside the country.
Listed among the festivals' backers on its official website is the Tkuma Directorate, an Israeli government body which supports the rehabilitation of communities astride the Gaza Strip which were attacked on Oct. 7.
Sameah, born in Beersheba to Iranian immigrant parents, told Israeli outlet Times of Israel earlier this month that she grew up between the two cultures and hoped the festival could help bridge divides between “governments and people.”
She added that she wanted to send “a message from love” at a time when many Iranians worry about the future following a 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June.
She said she chose Sderot — a city still recovering from the Oct. 7 attack in which 72 residents were killed — to encourage Israelis to support cultural life in the western Negev.
“The festival is in Sderot because Israelis should go to the western Negev to support it after October 7,” Sameah was quoted as saying by Times of Israel.
“Things are calmer now, but when I would go to Sderot for meetings, there were the sounds of war in the background, and imagining that things would improve gave me hope,” she added.
The festival features five Iranian films, as well as performances of Persian music.
Screenings include two films by Tehran-based dissident director Asghar Farhadi — The Salesman, his Oscar-winning film, and A Hero.
The political thriller The Seed of the Sacred Fig Tree by exiled Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof is also being shown, alongside Reading Lolita in Tehran by Israeli director Eran Riklis and the animated film Persepolis, based on the graphic novel by Iranian-French artist Marjane Satrapi.
Israeli singer Rita is set to receive a lifetime achievement award for her work promoting Iranian culture, and Middle East scholar David Menashri will also be honored.
Hamas-led militants breached security barriers and infiltrated Israeli communities, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians while taking over 250 hostages, both foreign and Israeli.
Israel responded by launching a full-scale war on Gaza, killing 46,000 people, according to Gaza health ministry data.
