Ahed's Knee

Love Letters to Cinema is a collection of ten "letters” in the form of short films (4 minutes each), written and directed by ten outstanding Israeli directors. The films and the directors conduct a dialogue, whereas the directors create a short film with their unique voice, bringing to the audience a group of work that reflects on cinema.

In a dump he walks through on his way to school, an Arab lad in Jerusalem finds a small, red electronic game. He picks it up and plays with it as he walks. Security cameras follow him. Near the school entrance, one of his teachers confiscates it, and the teacher, in turn, has it taken from him by two Israeli soldiers. We follow the toy, as do the omnipresent security cameras, into the hands of a café owner, and then to a Japanese tourist, a nun, an Orthodox boy, and more. Its very presence, with its lights and beeps, causes suspicion and sometimes alarm. Is this a world in which it's unsafe to carry a toy?

The 40-year-old director Yoav was asked by the editor of “Cahiers du Cinéma” to write about the potency of a specific cinematographic image. Yoav recalls his first encounter with Pasolini’s Teorema, back when he was still a soldier in the Israeli army. Nadav Lapid has created an alter ego director. In just a few scenes, Lapid condenses the moments that have ultimately altered the director’s life. Lama? is an extremely personal film that tangibly illuminates the vast potential inherent in cinema.

On a desert road, a couple makes love in front of a monument where, a year earlier, four Palestinian workers had kidnapped their Israeli boss in a protest against the injustices of the Israeli occupation.

Lisa Spinelli is a Staten Island teacher who is unusually devoted to her students. When she discovers one of her five-year-olds is a prodigy, she becomes fascinated with the boy, ultimately risking her family and freedom to nurture his talent.

In an anxious and isolated world, paralyzed by the fear of the pandemic, one woman is determined to get a kiss -- lips touching lips -- from the Star of her dreams.

In the days following October 7, Y., a jazz musician, and his wife Yasmin, a dancer, resolve to say yes to everything. Y. and Yasmin sell their bodies and souls to the highest bidder, surrendering themselves and their art to Israel’s social, political and military elite. Soon, Y. is entrusted with a mission of the utmost importance: to compose the music for a rousing, ruthless new national anthem.

Judith leads a double life between Switzerland and France. On the one hand Abdel, with whom she is raising a little girl, on the other Melvil with whom she has two older boys. Little by little, this fragile balance, made up of lies, secrets and back and forth, cracks dangerously. Trapped, Judith chooses to head forward, at the risk of losing everything.

A member of an Israeli anti-terrorist unit clashes with a group of young radicals.

A teacher discovers in a five year-old child a prodigious gift for poetry. Amazed and inspired by this young boy, she decides to protect his talent in spite of everyone.

A young Israeli man absconds to Paris to flee his nationality, aided by his trusty Franco-Israeli dictionary.

Y., a wedding photographer, marries one bride, kills another and returns home.

In Tel Aviv, Yoav receives a visit from Delphine, the girlfriend of Emile, his boyfriend from Paris. Their day together in the city confronts their mutual expectations in the face of a complex Israeli society.

Somewhere in the future, a star wakes up on her birthday, during her premiere at an illustrious festival.

Made during Tan Chui Mui’s Cinefondation Residency in Paris where she met residents Nadav Rapid and Rusudan Chkonia, who are cast here. The story is inspired by Nadav Rapid’s “Emile’s Girlfriend”.