Seret

ISRAELI FILM & TELEVISION TO BE SHOWCASED AT FIRST LONDON FESTIVALSERET 2012 WILL RUN FROM 14-18 JUNE

SERET (‘movie’ in Hebrew) is the name of the new London Israeli Film & Television Festival, which is holding its inaugural event from 14 to 18 June 2012. Fourteen screenings will be held, showcasing the largest, most diverse and most exciting array of Israeli film and television ever seen in the UK. Alongside the screenings, SERET will also be holding a conference for those in the film and television industries.

In the last ten years, a growing number of Israeli films have been nominated and won awards in major film festivals around the world including Footnote, Strangers No More, Lebanon, Ajami and Waltz with Bashir. Israeli television is also making an impact internationally with programmes such as Hatufim(‘Prisoners of War’ remade into Homeland) and BiTipul (‘Treatment’) currently being screened on SkyArts.

SERET seeks to showcase the outstanding contribution that Israeli film and television make to the arts, as well as promoting the richness and diversity of Israeli life and culture through these media. With a programme designed to appeal to a wide range of film lovers, there will also be opportunities to hear from some of the directors of the films featured.

Confirmed films for this year’s festival include Off White Lies (2011, Director: Maya Kenig), Invisible (2011, Director: Michal Aviad), In the Fifth Heaven (2011, Director: Dina Tzvi-Riklis), I shot my love (2010, Director: Tomer Heymann), Footnote (2011, Director: Joseph Cedar), Sharaqiya (2012, Director: Ami Livne), 2 Night (2011, Director: Roi Werner) and Lipstikka (2011, Director: Yonathan Segal). There will also be screenings of episodes from hit television programmes including Pilpelim Tsehubim (‘Yellow Peppers’) and Ramzor (‘Traffic Light‘). Several of the screenings will be followed by Q&As with the directors and those so far confirmed include: Michal Aviad, Tomer Heymann, Dina Tzvi-Riklis and Roi Werner.

During the festival SERET will also provide support to the objectives of the Anglo-Israel Co- Production Treaty (2011), through the staging of a conference for those in the film and television industries.

Tickets for screenings can be booked through the festival website www.seret.org.uk, where there is also more information on each film.

SERET is very grateful for the support of its sponsors who include Adot, the Embassy of Israel, Israel Film Fund, Dialogue of Cultures, Bank Discount, Bank Hapoalim, Bank HaMizrachi, Bank Leumi, Lionsgate Films, Alondon, Eden Springs, Park Plaza Millennium Hotel, Danubius Hotels and the Marriot Hotel Swiss Cottage.