Documentary

Docaviv 2026 opens in Tel Aviv with global documentaries, masterclasses, and retrospectives

The 28th Docaviv festival runs through June 6, featuring Israeli and international documentaries, masterclasses with Oscar winners, retrospectives, and a focus on politics, culture, and music.

|ByHANNAH BROWN
Meir Shalev
A SCENE from ‘One Eye Open,’ which tells the story of a group of soldiers in reserve duty during the Israel-Hamas War.

‘One Eye Open’ documentary wins award

The prize from the Weil-Bloch Foundation and NFCT for the IDF tale is set to be presented at Tel Aviv's international documentary film festival, Docaviv.

|ByHANNAH BROWN
Meir Shalev

Docaviv 2026 reveals the Israeli film lineup

Twelve new films have been chosen for the Israeli competition. They include Soccer for the Soul, by Avida Livny, and Shalom, by Meital Zvieli.

|ByHANNAH BROWN
A drone view shows an artist from the Sand In Your Eye art team putting the finishing touches to a giant sand portrait of David Attenborough to mark the conservationist's 100th birthday, on the beach in Morecambe, Britain, May 6, 2026.

British broadcaster David Attenborough turns 100, notable for not joining anti-Israel boycotts

The famed BBC broadcaster, whose family rescued Jewish sisters before the Holocaust, has never backed Israel boycotts and once praised Israel’s climate innovation.

|ByJAMES GENN

Judd Apatow grew up idolizing Mel Brooks. Now he’s telling Brooks’ story in an HBO documentary

Mel Brooks: The 99-Year-Old Man!, a two-part HBO documentary debuting this week, is a career-spanning portrait of one of American comedy’s most influential figures.

JANUARY 22, 2026BySTEPHEN SILVER/JTA
MEL BROOKS and Judd Apatow attend the Los Angeles premiere of HBO Documentary Films' Mel Brooks: 99 Year Old Man! at Ted Mann Theater at the Academy Museum on January 20, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.

'Public broadcasting is not a luxury': Filmmakers defend KAN documentaries

Speaking out for public funding of quality documentaries

JANUARY 13, 2026ByHANNAH BROWN
Noa Aharoni’s documentary ‘Eyes Wide Open’ tells the devastating story of the female border observers from the Nahal Oz IDF base, whose warnings about Hamas activity were ignored.

AI and fading survivors reshape how we remember the Holocaust - analysis

In a world of hate and AI, what does the future of Holocaust remembrance hold?

DECEMBER 30, 2025ByGILA OREN
Soon, memory of the Holocaust will rely not on firsthand accounts but on documentation, interpretation, and increasing technological forms of representation.

BBC edit of January 6 speech sparks $10B lawsuit from Trump

Trump has launched a defamation lawsuit against Britain’s BBC, saying edited clips of a January 6 speech created a false impression he incited the US Capitol attack.

DECEMBER 16, 2025ByREUTERS
The BBC logo outside the BBC Broadcasting House. November 15, 2025.

Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival features story of Polish Jewish teenager who triggered Kristallnacht

In Proud Jewish Boy, documentarian Isri Halpern sets out to find the truth about the 17-year-old Jewish refugee who assassinated a German diplomat in Paris in 1938.

DECEMBER 15, 2025ByHANNAH BROWN
Scene from the film, Proud Jewish Boy, by Isri Halpern.

Taylor Swift condemned over mention of Israel in new documentary series

Social media users are breaking the internet in a rush to condemn the 36-year-old Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, accusing her of being a "Zionist."

DECEMBER 13, 2025ByHANNAH BROWN
Taylor Swift performs as her record-breaking The Eras Tour comes to an end with the first of her three concerts in Vancouver, British Columbia

Documentary on Jews in Iran repeats regime narratives while silencing reality - opinion

Iran’s Jews do not need Blumenthal to speak for them. They need the world to understand why they can’t speak for themselves.

NOVEMBER 30, 2025ByMATTHEW NOURIEL
A rally marks Quds Day in Tehran in 2023. It coincided with Passover, and Jewish leaders, under government directive, told their communities to postpone Seders and attend state rallies instead, says the writer.

Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival features 40+ films exploring Jewish life

The festival will run from December 13 to 18 at the Jerusalem Cinematheque, will feature over 40 movies from 15 countries, and will explore Jewish life in times of uncertainty, as well as stability. 

NOVEMBER 26, 2025ByHANNAH BROWN
THE OPENING night film, ‘The Soundman.’

Columbia University denies campus access to activist Mahmoud Khalil over safety concerns

"They’re censoring anything connected to Palestine, anything that exposes their repression, their retaliation, and their complicity in genocide," said Mahmoud Khalil

NOVEMBER 25, 2025ByMICHAEL STARR
Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil attends a pro-Palestinian protest outside Columbia University, in Manhattan in New York City, US, October 7, 2025

Woes, challenges, and triumph: A look at the 2025 Anthropological Film Festival

The lineup includes films from countries around the world, such as the US, China, France, India, the UK, Mexico, Brazil, Poland, Qatar, and Austria.

NOVEMBER 15, 2025ByBARRY DAVIS
‘ I Died’ is a sensitive portrayal of hard-working, resolute Mexican women and their fight for self-determination.