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2024 Chelsea Film Festival Lineup Includes Eight Israeli Documentaries, Short Films, Dramas, Comedies
A scene from “The Procedure.” Photo: Provided
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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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
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