Founded in 1984, the Jerusalem Film Festival is celebrating its 40th anniversary. And what better way to celebrate this occasion than by looking back at previous editions? Reviewing the catalogues from past editions is a thrilling experience. It allows us to glance at the changes that have taken place in the seventh art over the years – the styles that have evolved, the trends that perhaps flourished in their day and have now waned, and quite a few cinematic achievements that were ahead of their time.
The JFF has always excelled at highlighting new and promising voices. Its various editions screened first features by then-unknown Jim Jarmusch, Wong Kar-wai, Bong Joon-ho, Quentin Tarantino, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, and Spike Lee to name a few. At the same time, the festival has always made sure to dedicate extensive programs to classic cinema and to restored prints.
In honor of this celebration, we've created a program of 40 films from various editions of the Jerusalem Film Festival. The task of selecting the films was entrusted to Ava Cahen, Artistic Director of the Cannes Critics' Week, Noa Regev, CEO of the Israel Film Fund (who was heading the Jerusalem Film Center for a decade), Roni Mahadav-Levin, Executive Director of the Jerusalem Film Center, and the JFF Artistic Director, Elad Samorzik. Thus, one film was chosen from each year, from 1984 to the present.
The 40th edition of our festival is now proud to screen the films of the first decade, all in newly restored digital prints.
