Sapir College Debuts Negba Fund at Sderot's 25th Cinema Festival

The Cinema of the South Festival will open its 25th edition on November 1 at the Sderot Cinematheque. The five-day event runs through November 5 and introduces Negba, a new incubator for young filmmakers from the region.

Sapir Academic College’s School of Audio and Visual Arts founded the festival. This year’s lineup emphasizes local production, including works that examine life in the three years following the October 7 Hamas-led massacres in Israel.

The opening evening features a discussion with Hanan Savyon and Guy Amir about their Netflix series, Bros. The show follows two childhood friends and Beitar Jerusalem fans who manage a pub while facing personal crises. The event will also include the world premiere of the first two episodes of the series’ second season.

Advance screenings include Motherland, a KAN comedy-drama directed by Yael Hedaya. The cast includes Dana Ivgy, Sasson Gabay, and Alma Zack. Audiences will also see the KAN documentary series Whose Daughter Are You?, which explores the lives of Mizrahi women in Israel.

The festival closes with a preview of What Was She Thinking? by Iris Zaki. The film addresses the choice to forgo children in Israeli society. Zaki heads the master’s degree program at Sapir. The closing ceremony also honors editor Nili Feller, a two-time Ophir Award winner, with four films she edited and a master class.

Returning graduates will present new projects. Efrat Corem shows Heart of Gold, while Shir Houri Abu presents the documentary 100 Gates. Tal Avitan, a Sderot native, screens Carlos Outside the Lines, a film about a soccer coach in Kiryat Gat. The program also includes eight winners from previous festival editions.

Regional highlights include Sketches of the Soul, a collection of five shorts by western Negev filmmakers about life after October 7. Sami Shalom Chetrit will premiere My Beloved Gourama, which traces his father’s life in Morocco and Israel. Swiss director Thomas Imbach will present two films and lead a master class in cooperation with the Swiss Embassy.