Indulunk...

12th Budapest Jewish and Israeli Film Festival
November 29 – December 3, 2023

The main patron of the festival:
Gergely Karácsony, Mayor of Budapest

Festival director:
Marcell Kenesei, Director of JCC Budapest – Bálint Ház

Festival organiser:
JCC Budapest

Curators of the festival:
Zsuzsa Fritz, Bálint House – Head of the Source Jewish Knowledge Library
Eszter Lányi, cultural specialist.
Anna Fodor, Film Acquisition Specialist, Cirko Film – Másképp Foundation
Nir Ferber, Israeli film specialist

Project Leader:
Dávid Lantai, Head of Network Center at JCC Budapest (e-mail: lantai.david@balinthaz.hu)

Curator of the Jewish Budapest 150 events:
Gergő Borbás, Creative Director of JCC Budapest

Curators of the Israel 75 events:
Lívia Ledniczky, Director of MERKAZ – Hebrew and Israeli Cultural Centre
Kitty Frölich, Programme Director, MERKAZ – Centre for Hebrew and Israeli Culture

Communication and press relations:
Dóra Sós (e-mail: sos.dora@balinthaz.hu, telephone: +36 30 356 6104)

International copy delivery:
Anna Fodor

Graphic Designer:
Miklós Fekete

Social media:
Eliza Gönci, Joli Tóth

Volunteer coordinator:
Réka Remzső – zsifi@balinthaz.hu

Program booklet editor:
Léna Hajdu

Program booklet layout and graphics:
Henriett Hauer

Program guide proofreading:
Judit Kalocsai

General information: info@zsifi.org

General information: zsifi@balinthaz.hu
www.instagram.com/budapesti.zsido.filmfesztival | www.facebook.com/zsido.filmfesztival |
https://www.youtube.com/@ZsiFi-budapest

This year, ZsiFi is becoming a young adult—the film festival has reached its age of a bat mitzvah! We’ll be bringing you the best Israeli and Jewish-themed films the past year with a focus on women and women-created films.  

For 12 years now, the Budapest Jewish and Israeli Film Festival has been a place for entertainment and reflection, providing material for late-night conversations about Jewish and non-Jewish identities, and the current world we live in. The goals for this film festival remains the same as when it first launched: to provide a diverse picture of the colourful Jewish world, often unfamiliar to the majority. 

ZSIFI showcases the latest films from contemporary Jewish creators and a wide range of some of the best Jewish-themed and Israeli films from the past year. The film selection team (comprised of film professionals, JCC Budapest staff, and partners) also pays attention to presenting films from various national backgrounds from Europe, the Americas, and beyond. ZSIFI also strives to showcase films made within the community, providing opportunities for local creators. As part of JCC Budapest’s social responsibility project focusing on women’s empowerment, we chose the festival’s coming of age as an opportunity to emphasize films and discussions cantered around women. 

This year, we are awarding the creations for the second time, announcing the Best Short Film Award, the Most Community-Oriented Film Award, and the Tikun Olam Award, which rewards works that make the world a better place. Of course, there is also an Audience award, so we ask all cinemagoers to make their voices heard!  

The film festival is accompanied by various Jewish cultural programs, some of which will be hosted at a new venue, the Golem Theatre. 

The main organiser of the event has been JCC Budapest for ten years. One of its main sponsors is the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in Hungary, and other permanent partners and sponsors include the Embassy of the State of Israel, the Budapest Metropolitan Municipality, the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Embassy of the United States of America and MAZSIHISZ.

Collaborating partners: Gólem Theatre and Jewish Performing Arts Centre, Budapest Film, BZSH, Dutch Jewish Humanitarian Fund (JHF), Erzsébetváros, French Institute, Goethe Institute, Hebrew Language Centre, Israeli Cultural Institute, Austrian Cultural Forum.

Celebrate with us ZSIFI’s coming of age!

Tickets go on sale on 16 November at www.artmozi.hu and at the cinema box office.