Documentary film fest to open at National Library for 11th year

Docu.Text, running August 16-20, will feature 25 films, with premieres, filmmaker talks and live performances by Aviv Geffen and other Israeli artists

The National Library will host the 11th annual Docu.Text Festival from August 16-20, featuring five days of documentary films from Israel and around the world.

Held in cooperation with Tel Aviv’s Docaviv film festival, the event will include screenings of 25 different films, as well as discussions and concerts.

The festival will open with the premiere of “The Sixteenth Sheep: The Reunion,” which follows a historic reunion concert series celebrating the beloved 1978 children’s album recorded by Yehudit Ravitz, Gidi Gov, Yoni Rechter and David Broza, with songs based on poems by the late Yehonatan Geffen.

Filmmaker Ran Tal will be present at the screening, which is currently sold out, although interested viewers can join the wait list.

The festival’s closing event is a screening of Tomer Heymann’s latest film, “Aviv – Fucked-up Generation,” looking at the life and career of rock star Aviv Geffen. A live performance by Geffen and his band HaTa’auyot will follow the screening.

Other films being screened include “Lips,” about a wedding band that brought Moroccan culture to the mainstream Israeli stage, and “Things Were Like That,” which uses the voice of late author Meir Shalev to tell his life story through his books and the library’s archive.

The documentary “Wetland” tells the story of the Hula Valley region and Lake Hula before the area was drained in the 1950s, when the wetlands were seen as breeding grounds for malaria-carrying mosquitoes, while “LaIsha” tells the story of the widely-read Israeli women’s magazine that has influenced Israeli popular culture since its launch in 1947.

There are films about the recent years of conflict and national trauma, including “Safe Room,” about a doctor and his spouse who sheltered four families during the bloody October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel. The screening will include a post-film conversation in English with filmmaker Haley Geffen and several of the film’s central figures.

“Saved by the Ball” follows Kibbutz Kfar Aza’s soccer team in the aftermath of October 7, and “The Campaign” discusses the war being waged over Israel on social media, with a panel following the screening.

Offering a glimpse outside the country, “Natchez” is about the sprawling estates of the Mississippi town, offering a look at the political struggles inherent in the guided tours of the plantations, while “We Met at Grossinger’s” tells the history and background of the iconic resort that offered a getaway for East Coast Jewry.

For tickets and the full program in English, head to the National Library Docu.Text site.