Tel Aviv Student Film Fest goes online

The Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival, which was originally scheduled to be held in the spring, is holding its 2020 edition online, and it runs until September 26.

The festival, which is produced and managed by students at the Steve Tisch School of Film and Television at Tel Aviv University, is one of the most anticipated events of the year on movie lovers’ calendars, due to the combination of festive screenings, the raw talent of emerging filmmakers and veteran moviemakers who make guest appearances.

This year, because of the pandemic, even the planned outdoor screenings had to be canceled. But the festival still includes master classes with acclaimed American director Gus Van Sant, who made such movies as Good Will Hunting, Drugstore Cowboy, Elephant and Promised Land; Charlotte Gainsbourg, who won the Best Actress Award at Cannes for Lars von Trier’s Antichrist, and who starred with Richard Gere in Joseph Cedar’s Norman; Catherine Breillat, a French director whose films include Romance and Fat Girl; Nicole He, an American creator and programmer whose latest project is titled “Billie Eilish Gets Interviewed by a Robot,” and many others.

The festival features Israeli and international competitions, as well as animated films, digital media and experimental and video programs.

Festival directors Mya Kaplan and Talia Wigoder said, “Fortunately, the crisis did not affect the bold spirit of the festival and the creativity of film students in Israel and around the world. The festival program is full of wonderful films.”