Docaviv 2016 International Documentary Film Festival

Docaviv is Tel Aviv’s largest film festival, screening over 100 documentaries by filmmakers from all over the world and attracting over 35,000 attendees in 2015. The goal of the festival is to expose the public to documentaries they might never see otherwise, so many of the films at the festival are being screened for the first time. Alongside the screenings, there is also a competitive section of the festival for professional filmmakers in categories such as various categories – international and Israeli documentary films, student films and artistic vision.

To buy tickets online, click the “book now” link in the photo slide and click on “English” in the top left corner of the Cinematheque website. From there, you can scroll down the list of events to find tickets for Docaviv. 

Docaviv 2017 Highlights

We’ll have the 2017 schedule for you as soon as it becomes available. In the meantime, check out some of the most riveting documentaries from Docaviv 2016.

A Syrian Love Story

A story of the quest for revolution and search for inner peach, A Syrian Love Story is the culmination of 5 years of filming by Sean McAllister in war-torn Syria as he followed the lives of displaced Syrian couple Amer and Raghda and the toll the war took on their lives and relationship. 

When: May 23, 2016 at 5:30 pm; May 25, 2016 at 4:15 pm
Cost: 42 NIS
Tickets: Buy now!

Land of the enlightened

Pieter-jan De Pue makes his debut as a director with a chronicle of his 7 years following child gangs as they survive in mountains and caves by robbing merchants, mining gemstones, dealing opium, selling undetonated explosives from the war and dreaming of one day marrying and building their brides palaces guarded by lions.

When: May 20, 2016 at 4:30 pm; May 22, 2016 at 4:15 pm
Cost: 42 NIS
Tickets: Buy now!

The Settlers

Director Shimon Dotan examines the controversial Israeli settlement movement in the West Bank from its ideological and religious origins and driving forces to the actual people at the center of the controversy today.

When: May 23, 2016 at 7:00 pm; May 25, 2016 at 6:00 pm
Cost: 42 NIS
Tickets: Buy now!

Requiem for the American Dream

The illustrious Noam Chomsky explores the oligarchical system that “allows wealthy capitalists to seize the reins of government and turn those without wealth into a passive herd, willing to forego power, solidarity and democracy itself. (Docaviv).”

When: May 20, 2016 at 10:00 am; May 23, 2016 at 1:00 pm
Cost: 42 NIS
Tickets: Buy now!

LoveTrue

Filmmaker Alma Harel tracks 3 budding romances destined to end dramatically, using bold cinematography to paint a mosaic of past and future, fantasy and reality and memory and imagination.

When: May 19, 2016 at 8:00 pm; May 26, 2016 at 10:00 pm
Cost: 42 NIS
Tickets: Buy now!

Babylon Dreamers

Roman Shumunov’s film follows a group of dancers from Ashdod, Israel as they prepare for the International Breakdance Championship. Winning the competition is their dream, but each of the members, who are immigrants from the former Soviet Union, faces his own personal struggles, which Shumunov also documents.

When: May 19, 2016 at 11:45 am; May 24, 2016 at 3:15 pm; May 28, 2016 at 12:45 pm
Cost: 42 NIS
Tickets: Buy now!

Festival Details

Where: Tel Aviv Cinematheque, 2 Shprintsak Street, Tel Aviv-Yafo
When: May 2017
Info: Official website (schedule, tickets and contact info)

Photos: Courtesy of Docaviv — Itay Neeman, DOGWOOF, Roman Shumunov, Gianfranco Rosi, Film Boutique, Linda Posnick, Dan Aruch