Winners of the 42nd Jerusalem Film Festival

Main winners in the Israeli Competitions:

Oxygen

Malachi

Main winners in the International Competitions:

Lesson Learned

Little Trouble Girls

The Best Mother in the World

Thursday, July 24, 2025, the winners of the festival's competitions have been announced. The Awards Ceremony took place at the Jerusalem Cinematheque.

The total value of prizes awarded this year reached approximately one million NIS.

Below is the full list of prizes:

International Competition

Jury: Lawrence Bender, Matthias Glasner, Julia von Heinz

Nechama Rivlin Award for Best International Film

The Grand Prize:

Lesson Learned, Director: Bálint Szimler (Hungary)

The jury's remarks:

LESSON LEARNED is a film about perhaps the most important issue of our time: the education of our children. What should we tell them about our world? How can we instill confidence in them when we ourselves no longer trust anything? How can we instill self-confidence in them when it is being stripped away from us daily by an oppressive system? Told with humour, sadness and compassion, the film offers these qualities that we humans might need more than anything else right now in order to survive as a community. It does so with the assured style of a true filmmaker.

Honorable Mention:

Sound of Falling, Director: Mascha Schilinski (Germany)

The jury's remarks:

SOUND OF FALLING by Mascha Schilinski is a film of quiet power and lasting impact. It draws us with truth and confidence with a visual language that is deeply expressive. Every frame feels composed like a painting, yet alive with emotional undercurrents. At its core, this film is about women—across generations, across silences. Daughters, mothers, grandmothers, friends, neighbours: each one rendered with complexity and care. Schilinski never simplifies them. She lets them breathe. She shows strength and vulnerability not as opposites, but as two sides of the same experience. We honor a film that unfolds like memory: elliptical, layered, poetic. It doesn’t guide us—it invites us to feel, to see, to listen.

International Debuts Competition (sponsored by GWFF)

Jury: Bruno Nahon, Tom Shoval, Dani Rosenberg

GWFF Award for Best International Debut Film:

Little Trouble Girls, Director: Urška Djukić (Slovenia)

Honorable Mention:

Urchin, Director: Harris Dickinson (UK)

The jury's remarks:

This is a film made of the here and now. It is a dense, defiant, and lovingly human portrait of a broken man searching for a grip. The lead actor gives an unforgettable performance and is joined by an exceptional cast. The director's sure hands lead us forward fearlessly and with cinematic grace, along with the character, into the abyss, with great beauty all around us.

In the Spirit of Freedom Competition

Jury: Eran Riklis, Tal Granit, Teddy Leifer

Cummings Award for Spirit of Freedom Competition Winner:

The Best Mother in the World, Director: Anna Muylaert (Brazil)

The jury's remarks:

We gave the award to Anna Muylaert’s film for its huge heart and emotionally captivating underdog story of a woman who courageously battles for her children and her own destiny in the face of domestic abuse and a lack of opportunity. Gal (played by Shirley Cruz) is a timeless cinematic heroine who is the engine of a film full of craft and soul, in a powerful journey of liberation.

We were impressed by all of the films in the Spirit of Freedom category; in their brave commentary on people and societies living under oppression - whether political, social or religious. We find ourselves in a time when civilians are once again paying with their lives for the failures of the of governments and regimes they live under. We hope the artistry and vision in these films will inspire, engage and give hope to audiences, wherever they are.

Finally, in the spirit of freedom (the name of this award category), we call for an end to the war in Gaza and the immediate release of the hostages.

OFF Experimental Documentary Competition in honor of Chantal Akerman

Jury: Ori Levin

OFF Prize for Experimental Documentary in honor of Chantal Akerman:

Tell Her that I Love Her

Director: Romane Bohringer (France)

The jury's remarks:

Haggiag Competition for Full-Length Israeli Feature Films

Jury: Tiina Lokk, Julie Shles, Menashe Noy

Haggiag Award for Best Feature through the Jerusalem Foundation:

Oxygen, Director: Netalie Braun, Producers: Aviv Ben Shlush, Adi Bar Yossef, Netalie Braun

Jury Statement:

“A radical reading of Israeli existence centered on a mother who boldly chooses to stop being a victim of the Israeli ethos, no matter the cost. The film is layered with endless facets of Israeli reality, presented from a new perspective, giving an almost biblical dimension to the story of a mother facing the sacrifice of her son. Director and screenwriter Netalie Braun deconstructs this ethos—from the liberation of Jerusalem to crawling on the carpet as a result of PTSD—dismantling the image of the Israeli hero. A film with an inner rhythm, powerful and tumultuous, conveyed through the eyes of an empathetic protagonist, with a marvelous performance by Dana Ivgy that almost physically conveys the country's collective helplessness.”

Honorable Mention:

The Sea, Director: Shai Carmeli-Pollak, Producer: Baher Agbariya

Jury Statement:

“A poetic journey that manages to capture the nuances of our harsh reality and conveys the dissonance within the experience of Israel's impossible labyrinths of occupation, military, and police. The film moves back and forth between tunnels, fences, towers, buses, and motorcycles, and a child's simple yearning to see the vast sea, depicted here as a chance for redemption.”

GWFF Award for Best Israeli Debut Feature:

Nandauri, Director: Eti Tsicko, Producers: Ayelet Kait, Amir Harel, Flavia Oertwig, Vladimir Kacherba

Jury Statement:

“In her first feature film, Eti Tsicko demonstrates remarkable talent, taking us on a powerful journey. The director constructs an artistic, cinematic, female, and unique world, creating a collision between tradition and modernity. Tsicko's protagonist emerges from patriarchal environments yet relentlessly strives to change reality. The film presents a fascinating intersection: a strong woman returning to the oppressive worlds she escaped – a place that silenced her but also crushed men under the weight of social conventions. A film entirely freed from the male cinematic gaze, yet neither adversarial nor gender driven. Eti Tsicko reveals herself as a director with a distinct and powerful voice, a steady hand, and exceptional abilities already evident in her first film.”

Anat Pirchi Award for Best Script:

Mihal Brezis, Oded Binnun, Tom Shoval, Amital Stern – Dead Language

Jury Statement:

“A brilliant, original, and sophisticated screenplay, full of surprises and moments of magic, effortlessly moving between a realistic world and an internal, emotional one. The familiar conflict of marital erosion is taken to original places using cinematic and narrative devices that reveal true emotion. Through characters that at times spin out of control to extreme emotional states, the film exposes a hidden world of intimacy and relationships, showing how partners can be both closest and farthest at the same time.”

Anat Pirchi Award for Best Performance:

Riki Reif Sinai – Cuz You're Ugly

Jury Statement:

“A brave performance by Riki Reif Sinai, a young actress who throws herself into the part and masterfully creates a unique character. Riki Reif Sinai successfully walks the line between a tough, confident, and aggressive exterior while conveying fragility and vulnerability.”

Best Ensemble Award:

The Sea

Jury Statement:

“An authentic and impressive performance by an ensemble of actors, including both professionals and non-actors, skillfully presenting a fully realized world of a an oppressed population. The numerous supporting characters create a sense of true, believable life unfolding before our eyes, from the father, who stands out as vulnerable and human within a constraining patriarchy, to the child whose gaze is at once angry and tender, brave and defiant.”

Diamond Competition for Full-Length Israeli Documentary Films

Diamond Award for Best Documentary Film:

Malachi, Directors and Producers: Ido Bahat and Noam Demsky

Jury Statement:

“Ido Bahat and Noam Demsky's film presents a sharp and powerful human drama without judging its protagonists, who bare their most fragile and profound places. Malachi touches upon the very core complexity of family roles and unconditional parental love, examining how we relate to those who are different. It bravely confronts a major social taboo alongside a unique human conflict and an ethical, moral dilemma. The film leaves viewers unable to escape the question of how they would act in the same situation. The result is a film that highlights the human spirit at its finest.

Diamond Award for Best Director of a Documentary Film:

Israela Shaer-Meoded – Looking for Yadida

Jury Statement:

“Director Israela Shaer-Meoded approaches a sensitive and volatile affair that has haunted the country for nearly seventy years with a unique and personal perspective. Through powerful investigative work, she takes us into her family's personal story and, through it, delves into a national controversy that has shaken, and continues to shake, Israeli society. By uncovering new details and revelations about the past, she demonstrates extraordinary determination in her filmmaking, even at a heavy personal and familial cost.”

Aaron Emanuel Award for Best Cinematography:

Shai Goldman – Nandauri

Jury Statement:

“Shai Goldman's cinematography is mesmerizing. From Georgia's breathtaking landscapes to intimate interior scenes in homes and offices, he elevates the film to the level of epic cinema. Through remarkable lighting and a fearless approach to intimate scenes where passion and alienation intertwine, he bridges the gap between the protagonist's displacement and the stunning yet harsh world to which she returns. In addition to Nandauri, Goldman's work on The Sea successfully presents a completely different world closer to home, the restless, bustling movement of Tel Aviv, where the protagonist appears almost crushed by the city itself.”

Aliza and Micha Shagrir Award for Best Editing:

Ido Bahat and Ido Haar – Malachi

Jury Statement:

“The complex editing of Malachi builds a dramatic story out of human dilemmas, presented from different perspectives and allowing viewers to empathize with different characters at different stages. The film unfolds like a puzzle, taking the audience on a turbulent emotional journey, peeling back layer after layer until the late reveal of its protagonist, a powerful cinematic decision that creates an unforgettable experience.”

Yossi Mulla Award for Best Original Score:

Avi Belleli – The Sea

Jury Statement:

“Avi Belleli's score turns a journey from Ramallah to the sea into an emotionally rich experience. The music never overwhelms the film or its audience, organically giving the film an additional voice. His composition allows us to access the inner world of the child protagonist, with its rhythm providing a steady pulse amidst the noise and chaos.”

Diamond Competition for Israeli Shorts

Jury: Evgeny Ruman, Orit Fouks Rotem, Yuval Scharf

Diamond Award for Best Live Action Film:

Tongue Behind Teeth, Director: Ira Eduardovna, Producer: Naama Pyritz

Diamond Award for Live Action Film, Second Prize:

Dalia's Tea Casts a Shadow on Mount Fuji, Director: Oren Gerner, Producers: Oren Gerner and Lihi Nachmani

Aliza and Micha Shagrir Award for Best Student Film:

The Things We do for Love and a Foreign Passport

Director: Ayal Sgerski, School: Sam Spiegel Film & Television School

The Best Performance Award:

Hilly Yossef Zada, for her performance in Before Anyone Else, Director: Ziv Mamon

Best Animated Film:

A Bird's Wish, Director: Gan De Lange, Producers: Gan De Lange and KM Productions

Honorable Mention:

Home Base, Director: Amit Kra, School: The Steve Tisch School of Film and Television, Tel Aviv University

The Israeli Video Art and Experimental Film Competition

Jury: Maayan Sheleff, Hila Ben Ari, Elham Rokni

OFF Awards

First Prize:

Escape Will Get You Tonight, Director: Noa Simhayof Shahaf

Jury Statement:

“From within a dense fog emerges a brilliant performance that intertwines timelines, portraying an Israeli Elvis impersonator stuck in his parents' home during a war. Noa's original film brings a young and unique voice, engaging with the history of cinema and video art while touching, in a moving, intriguing, and at times amusing way, on a sense of collective despair. Screen within screen, room within room, stage, shelter—enigmatic spaces unfold before the viewer, poetically reflecting a failed attempt at escape.”

Second Prize:

Orientations, Director: Daniel Kiczales

Jury Statement:

“A meditative work, seemingly simple yet complex in its precision and profound in the way it touches upon political, cultural, and gender conventions. The film exhibits the space between Ben-Gurion Airport and Jerusalem as a reversed escape route—a pilgrimage to the heart of conflict. The female voice is the body, the id, a wordless space, a tragic chorus dragged to its fate, while the unseen male voice attempts to put words to the space to no avail. In Daniel's artistic language, sound drives the image, as though sculpting video through sound.”

Jerusalem Pitch Point 2025 Awards

Jury: Michel Franco, Michel Zana, Maya Amsellem

The Jerusalem Film Festival Awards for Full Length Films and Works-In-Progress

Grand Prize:

Where To, Director: Assaf Machnes, Producers: Tomer Mecklberg, Haim Mecklberg, Oren Rogovin, Guy Shani

Jury Prize:

Maybe It's Love, Director: Henya Brodbeker, Producers: Tami Cohen, Adar Shafran

Edit & D.B. Post Production Grant: Al-Barzakh, Director: Hamad Sharoof, Producers: Shlomi Elkabetz, Galit Kahlon, Michal Giladi

The Gesher Multicultural Film Fund Award for Best Short Script

Jury: Rana Abu-Fraiha Assayag, Eliran Elya, Ruth Diskin

The Gesher Multicultural Film Fund Award for Best Short Script & Edit & DB Studios Post-Production Grant:

Dad in the Room, Writer & Director: Dotan Moreno, Producer: Lev Orlov

IMPACT Pitch in collaboration with CoPro – The Van Leer Impact Campaign Award on Behalf of the Jerusalem Film Festival

Jury: Hilly Hirt, Yifat Kedar, Roy Kimchi

Love in Hard Places, Director: Brachi Haisherik, Producers: Tami Cohen, Adar Shafran

The Jerusalem Media Initiative Award for a Jerusalem Based Filmmaker

Ayelet Ofarim