2024 Chelsea Film Festival Lineup Includes Eight Israeli Documentaries, Short Films, Dramas, Comedies

The 12th annual Chelsea Film Festival beginning in New York City on Wednesday will include eight films from Israeli directors, including dramas, comedies, and documentaries related to the Hamas-led terrorist massacre in Israel in October 2023.

“The City,” “Drone Pilot.” and “6:30” will screen on Thursday at Regal Theaters Union Square. “The City,” directed by and starring Amit Ulman, is a “noir hip-hop opera” that revolves around a detective investigating the case of a missing woman. When Sarah Bennett arrives at Detective Joe’s investigation office and asks him to find her missing sister, he agrees to get involved while ignoring the advice of his partner, Jack.

“Despite the warnings and Sarah’s mysterious disappearance, Joe continues to investigate the case until he realizes that behind all the intrigue stands the city’s notorious criminal whom nobody wants to mess with,” reads a synopsis of the film. “Now, Joe must extricate himself from the predicament he has entered.”

“Drone Pilot” is a documentary that will be making its world premiere at this year’s Chelsea Film Festival. It focuses on a man named Haitham Abu Tarif and his close army friends as they cope with the trauma and loss of their friend Sergeant Madhat Yosef. The Border Police officer, and member of Israel’s Druze community, was killed in October 2000 while guarding the Joseph’s Tomb burial complex in the West Bank city of Nablus during an attack by a mob of Palestinians.

Another documentary, “6:30,” features testimonies from survivors of the deadly Hamas terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, as well as animations and miniature simulations that chronicle the development of the attack across eight locations in southern Israel. The film is making its international premiere at the Chelsea Film Festival.

On Friday, the Israeli short films “Protected Space” and “The Procedure” will screen as part of the festival’s lineup. “Protected Space” is a 10-minute comedy web series about a group of Israeli college students determined to have normal lives and not let the constant missile attacks in Israel keep them from making the most out of their college experience. “The Procedure” is another comedy, but with a science-fiction twist, about a man who goes to a doctor for a procedure to have his anxiety removed from his body.

“Half An Inch of Skin,” making its world premiere, and “French” are two more short films that will screen on Saturday. The former is about a Parisian couple expecting their first child and the issues that arise when the husband, who is both Black and Jewish, announces to his atheist wife that he wants their future son to be circumcised in adherence with Jewish tradition. The film stars “Call Me By Your Name” actress Esther Garrel and French César-nominated actor Ralph Amoussou.

“French,” starring Hades Yaron and “Fauda” actress Rona-Lee Shimon, revolves around a nail appointment that turns dramatic when the manicurist accuses her customer and friend of betrayal.

“Torn,” a documentary about the “Kidnapped From Israel” poster campaign taking place around the world, will screen on the last day of the film festival. Each of the eight screenings will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker and cast.

The 12th Annual Chelsea Film Festival will take place Oct. 16-20 and online until Oct. 31.

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