TLVFest - The Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival

Dear Friends Due to the recent world-wide events, the 15th international LGBT film festival, took place online. The 16th edition will be hybrid (Physical and online (so when you submit your movie, please take it under your consideration. The festival will take place between November 11-20, 2021. TLVFest has always been the most daring, vivid and bold festival to take place in Israel, never to give in to any obstacles, always looking forward to the future. We will continue working on the festival so that we could all celebrate the LGBT cinema from all parts of the world on the big screen in November. We are committed to continue promoting tolerance, equal rights, freedom of art and of course, to presenting films all across the country. Yours, Yair Hochner, TLVFest founder & Artistic Director ABOUT TLVFest - Freedom, justice and tolerance should be the pillars of any society. We believe Israel must guarantee full social and political equality to all, regardless of religion, race, sex or sexual orientation. As committed members of the Israeli LGBT community, we struggle for equality and respect by creating a serious, often controversial discourse through the medium of queer cinema. The Tel Aviv International LGBT film festival is the manifestation of this struggle. TLVFest is recognized for its many local and international achievements. In July 2018, MovieMaker Magazine chose TLVFest as one of the 25 coolest international film festivals in the world. In 2014 and 2015, TLVFest was chosen by Indiewire Magazine as one of the top 10 LGBT film festivals in the world, and Yair Hochner the founder and artistic director of the festival, was invited to be a featured jurist at important international festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlinale Festival and the Guadalajara Festival, the largest film festival in Central and South America. The only LGBT film festival in the Middle East, TLVFest is a fixture of the Israeli pride week. the festival offers a fascinating look into international and Israeli queer cinematic art. It is also an industry hub of activity. We take pride in the many collaborations and creative work that evolved from TLVFest meet-ups, seminars and workshops over the past decade. We have come a long way since our 2006 launch. Held in the cramped quarters offered by Ha’Ozen Hashlishit (Hebrew for “third ear”) record store, the first festival opened with a show of Greg Araki’s Mysterious Skin. The venue was fully booked throughout the five-day event; it was clear we had created something that had to continue and grow. A year later we moved into the Tel Aviv Cinematheque. The only openly and committedly gay-friendly cinema in Israel, it has been our home ever since, and an important partner in all of our endeavours. Since then, each pride week sees TLVFest growing, reaching more audiences, diversifying its program and exposing more local and global LGBT issues. And we make it a point to support the more disadvantaged members of our local community – transgender people and LGBTs belonging to ethnic and cultural minorities – by giving their daily experiences and struggles a visible spot on the silver screen. TLVFest has had the pleasure to host many of the queer cinema industry’s most innovative minds. Over the years our guests have included Alan Cumming, Lea DeLaria, Producer Christine Vachon (Boys Don’t Cry, Carol, Far From Heaven), Bruce La Bruce, Mink Stole, Wieland Speck (Berlinale Panorama curator), Lorenzo Vigas (From Afar), Marcio Reolon, Filipe Matzembacher (Tinta Bruta/Hard Paint), Martín Rodríguez Redondo (Marilyn), Jay Brannan (Shortbus), Jamie Babbit (But I’m a Cheerleader), Angela Robinson (D.E.B.S.), Cheryl Dunye (The Watermelon Woman), Mark Christopher (Studio 54), Alanté Kavaïté (The Summer of Sangaile), Daniel Ribeiro (The Way He Looks), Melanie Mayron (Snapshots), Madeleine Olnek (Wild Nights with Emily), Thom Fitzgerald (The Hanging Garden),Gigi Gorgeous, Sherry Vine, Jackie Beat, Joey Arias, Miss Rosewood, & RuPaul’s Drag Race stars: Peppermint, Alexis Michelle, Jinkx Monsoon, Sharon Needles and many, many more filmmakers and artists. TLVFest is more than a regular film festival it’s runs the TLVFest Movie Club, a monthly screening and other cinema related events throughout the year. The festival purchases theatrical rights of selected LGBTQ international films, and distributes them in Israel. The TLVFest team is already hard at work on the many exciting ideas that will eventually form the next festival. Join us as we continue celebrating Israeli and international queer cinema and promote a more tolerant and respectful Israeli society. Yours, The TLVFest team.