Pro-democracy chants marked the opening ceremony of the 40th Jerusalem Film Festival, as audience members made their voices heard in opposition to judicial changes from the right-wing coalition government.
Chants of “demokratiyah” (English translation: democracy) came throughout the event, and were loudest during the arrival, speech and departure of Israeli president Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal Herzog.
Demonstrations are expected on Saturday, July 15 at the festival, continuing the weekly Saturday protests that have been taking place since the start of the year.
The pro-democracy movement is speaking out against a judicial overhaul proposed by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that will remove the standard which allows the supreme court to overrule government decisions.
The Knesset – the Israeli parliament – passed this element of the bill last Monday (July 10), leading to protests across the country over the past week. Further protests are also planned for next Monday, July 17.
The presidential role is largely ceremonial in Israel, with the main power residing with the prime minister. As such, the festival chants did not seem to target Herzog directly; with the president applauded for describing cinema as “a real democratic tool… which reflects our image as a society, as a country, as humanity.”
Israeli TV host Shifra Kornfeld led the ceremony, and sent “thoughts and prayers” to the filmmakers and people of Ukraine. “We wish them strength and hope for a swift resolution to this crisis,” said Kornfeld in English, after giving a more detailed speech in Hebrew in which she described the importance of democracy.
Honorees
The festival began by honouring four special guests: Belgian directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, US filmmaker Oliver Stone, and UK actress Helen Mirren.
Having earlier addressed her casting as a non-Jewish person playing a Jewish character in Guy Nattiv’s Golda, Mirren did not directly reference the SAG-AFTRA strike beginning today, but used her acceptance speech to thank her “tribe” of actors.
“Members of my tribe can be found in Germany, Belgium, the United States. Palestinians, Israelis, Africans. They are the tribe to whom I really want to dedicate this award and say thank you,” said the actress, who was warmly received by the local audience. “I had the greatest time [on Golda] because immediately I felt that I belonged. Thank you to my wonderful tribe of actors, all over the world in every language there is.”
Israel-born, US-based director Nattiv thanked Mirren “from all the Israelis and Jews all over the world – we love and honour your playing Golda.” He dedicated the film to the veterans of the Yom Kippur war which it depicts, “and the people who didn’t come back home.”
In his brief address, Stone referenced the higher-than-normal temperatures in Jerusalem this week – the thermometer is hitting at least 36 degrees Celsius across the first four days of the festival – and shared a joke with Mirren, saying “How come you’ve never been in one of my pictures?”, to which she responded, “You’ve never asked me!”
Speaking in French via a translator to Hebrew, Luc Dardenne thanked the festival for the award, and said, “Cinema creates good between people, not barriers.” The Dardennes brothers’ Cannes 2022 title Tori And Lokita will play at the festival.
Further speeches came from Moshe Leon, the mayor of Jerusalem; and festival director Roni Mahadev-Leon, who said “Even during crises, the festival returned every year to a cinematic celebration in Israel, and so it will be in 2023 when threats to the state of Israel accumulate.”
Although a topic of discussion among attendees, the SAG-AFTRA strike is not expected to cause significant disruption to this year’s festival, with no major US acting guests attending over the coming days.
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