After two disappointing years, the Jerusalem Film Festival (9-19 July) has turned the tide around. With attendance up 25% to 60,000 admissions for the 175 films it screened, the festival was a pleasant surprise for both audiences and the media. The reason behind this was a balanced programme, which covered a wide range of topics.

Guests who focused on the indigenous fare could witness the sorry state of the local film industry, which produced only four new pictures to compete for the Wolgin awards. The jury, headed by former Venice topper Guglielmo Biraghi, picked out Julie Shlez's Afula Express for the main award, while Eli Nasser's The Milky Way was handed a script prize. Documentaries rated much higher grades altogether, with Out for Love... Be Back Soon by Dan Katzir and Dalia Karpel's Emil Habibi - I stayed in Haifa both getting ma prizes. The Last Transfer (Ilana Tzur) and MG

- Rehearsals for Departure (Ziva Postec) received special mentions.

Featuring on the guest list were Alan Rudolph, Christopher Hampton, Francesco Rosi, Helma Sanders Brahms, Michael Verhoeven, Alain Berliner and Ruth Beckermann, as well as such international film professionals as Roberto Cicutto (Mikado), and Ernst 'Etchie' Stroh (Moonstone).

But the Jerusalem Film Festival's main attraction was a quartet of Mohsen Makhmalbaf films: Time for Love, Salaam Cinema, A Moment of Innocence and Gabbeh. Since modern Iranian cinema is practically unknown in Israel for political reasons, their Israeli premiere was acclaimed by the media, with Gabbeh already opening commercially before standing room only audiences. The Iranian authorities, who were displeased with their films being shown in an enemy country, claimed in a Reuters dis-patch that the illegal state of Israel had pirated their products. No such thing. All four films were legally acquired from the French co-producer and distributor MK2.
Edna Fainaru