A poster for the 35th Israel Film Festival. Photo: Provided.

The 35th Israel Film Festival set to take place in Los Angeles next month will feature a number of film premieres among 30 award-winning features, documentaries and short films.

The festival, which is the largest showcase of Israeli films in the US, will be held in theaters and virtually from May 5-26. This year’s festival will include five US film premieres, six West coast premieres and 14 Los Angeles premieres. Opening night will see the Los Angeles premiere of Avi Nesher’s “Image of Victory,” which took home three wins at the 2021 Ophir Awards after 15 nominations. Considered Israel’s biggest-budget film, the film is inspired by the true story of the Egyptian Army’s 1948 raid on the kibbutz Nitzanim.

Also being screened at the festival is “Berenshtein,” based on the true story of Leonid Berenshtein, the last surviving member of the partisans who discovered Adolf Hitler’s V2 missile development facility. Festival goers will also get the chance to see “Here We Are” — the winner of four Ophir Awards, including best director, actor, supporting actor and screenplay — and the documentary “Queen Shoshana,” about the life story of Israeli singing icon Shoshana Damari. Comedies being screened include “Saving Shuli” and “Greener Pastures.”

Israeli filmmakers and actors will take part in select post-screening Q&As, including “Plan A” star Michael Aloni, “Berenshtein” producer Ronen Machlis Balzam and actor Omer Hazan from “Don’t Wait for Me.” 

“I’m thrilled that the Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles is fully back for audiences to celebrate and support Israeli movies and their talented filmmakers,” said Meir Fenigstein, founder and executive director of the Israel Film Festival. “We hope that this 35th edition will be a new, exciting beginning towards continuing to bring the very best of Israeli culture to Los Angeles.”

The screening of “Image of Victory” will take place on May 5 at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, while all other festival screenings will been shown at the Lumiere Cinema’s Music Hall Theater, also in Beverly Hills, and the Laemmle Town Center 5  in Encino.