Dear film lovers, JCC Budapest – Bálint Ház is proud to present the 10th annual Budapest Jewish and Israeli Film Festival (Zsifi).

ZSIFI10. The Director’s Cut  

Incredible, we have turned 10 years old. The Budapest Jewish and Israeli Film Festival Budapest (ZSIFI) has been making us laugh and has been providing us with food for thought and topics for long discussions about Jews and non-Jews, identity and the world we live in for the past 10 years. The aim of the JCC Budapest – Bálint Ház today is exactly the same as it was back then, when the festival was launched: to give a much deeper understanding of the extremely colourful world which is unknown to most and about its current state. And because this is the tenth, this festival is going to be even bigger, even more exciting and not the least longer than before – this is going to be our Director’s cut.  

During the 10 years, ZSIFI has grown to be Hungary’s unique cultural program. It is more and more popular not only among the members of the local Jewish community, but also in circles of the wider society, among people who are interested in Jewish culture. It became cool to be a regular at the ZSIFI. Despite having had to move the festival to the virtual world last year, the event reached a record-breaking attendance. Thus, we decided to launch the 10th, the Jubilee ZSIFI in a hybrid way: the films will be screened at Művész and Puskin movie theaters and at the French Institute OFFLINE, and most of them by Művész Távmozi ONLINE. Thus, the program of the film festival will be accessible nationwide.

ZSIFI is aiming at premiering a variety of the best pieces of contemporary Jewish film makers and the best Jewish themed and Israeli movies. The team to choose the movies (which consists of both motion pictures experts and the employees and partners of the JCC Budapest – Bálint Ház) pay extra attention to selecting movies from various national backgrounds from Europe, the United States and elsewhere.  ZSIFI aims at screening movies which were made in the local community, and thus it is providing an opportunity to those, who make community movie. Through the pieces screened at the festival, we would like to present a selection of movies which include actualities and messages from the different segments of Judaism.  

The organizer of this event for the past 10 years is the JCC Budapest – Bálint Ház, in partnership with Golem Theatre. One of its main supporters is Hungarian Jewish Social Support Foundation (HJJFS/MAZS), which was funded in 1991 as the local foundation of the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), additional constant main partners and supporters that have joined the festival are the Embassy of Israel in Budapest and the Israeli Cultural Institute. 

And for the 2nd time, the main patron of the 10th Jewish and Israeli Film Festival: Gergely Karácsony, Mayor of Budapest.

Come, join us and watch the director’s cut. 

Marcell Kenesei, Festival Director
(Director of JCC Budapest – Bálint Ház)