How the Cinema South Festival has survived and thrived in Sderot for 25 years

The Cinema South Festival in Sderot holds its 25th edition at the Sderot Cinematheque from November 1-5, run by Sapir Academic College's School of Audio and Visual Arts. Director Reuma Mantzur describes survival through years of Hamas rocket fire and the October 7, 2023 attack, which killed more than 50 residents, and points to incubators for Bedouin women and young southern filmmakers.

The Cinema South Festival marks its 25th edition at the Sderot Cinematheque from November 1-5, run and sponsored by Sapir Academic College's School of Audio and Visual Arts. Director Reuma Mantzur, who arrived at Sapir as a student in 2006, says the festival's survival is itself remarkable given more than two decades of Hamas rocket fire from Gaza and the October 7, 2023 attack, which killed more than 50 residents, mostly civilians. Mantzur ties the festival's identity to the filmmaking community around Sapir. Its pitching events and development incubators give graduating students somewhere to take their work, and the program screens films by alumni and lecturers alongside a graduation film competition. "We always look first for the local connection," she said. Among its initiatives is Through a Woman's Eyes, an incubator for Bedouin women filmmakers guided by Sigalit Banai, working with the Negev Film Fund and the Rahat community center. The next group of films has already been shot for screening next year. The closing ceremony will launch Negba, an incubator for young southern filmmakers, and the opening features the first two episodes of the second season of Bros, the Guy Amir and Hanan Savyon series broadcast on Netflix. Mantzur said bringing overseas guests has become much more difficult, which has reinforced the importance of supporting local creators. Swiss director Thomas Imbach will present two films, Nemesis and The Exposure, and give a master class with the Swiss Embassy. The article recalls the 2004 festival, when guest of honor Richard Gere gave a master class and was presented with shrapnel from a missile that had hit near the cinematheque hours earlier.