The 37th Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles opened on February 4 with a gala event spotlighting producer Lawrence Bender. Actress and comic Tiffany Haddish, known for her roles in such films as Girls Trip and her Netflix specials, presented Bender with the festival’s 2026 Visionary Award.
The festival will run until February 19, with screenings at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, Regal North Hollywood, and the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills, presenting the best of recent Israeli cinema.
The opening-night event paired the Bender tribute with the Los Angeles premiere of A Letter to David, Tom Shoval’s Ophir Award-winning documentary about recently freed hostage David Cunio, which was the festival’s opening film.
The opening gala was sponsored by NATAL, Israel’s leading trauma-focused organization, which provides comprehensive services to individuals, families, and communities affected by war, terror, and violence.
Bender, who has produced many Oscar-winning films, including the Quentin Tarantino classics Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds, as well as Good Will Hunting and An Inconvenient Truth, is being honored for a career that has combined commercial reach with a taste for provocative storytelling.
Bender recently came to Israel to executive produce Red Alert, a Paramount+ series released in October 2025 that dramatizes the October 7 terrorist attack.
The festival will also honor director Eran Riklis with its 2026 Cinematic Achievement Award and will show his latest film, Reading Lolita in Tehran, a movie based on the best-selling memoir about a literature professor in Iran. Riklis is known for such films as The Syrian Bride, Lemon Tree, and A Borrowed Identity.
Israel Film Festival Kicks Off in LA Through Feb. 19
The festival will feature a centerpiece tribute to the late actor Alon Aboutboul with a 40th anniversary screening of Ricochets (Shtei Etzba’ot Mi’Tzidon), the 1986 film that helped define his screen legacy and which is about soldiers fighting in the First Lebanon War.
The festival will show new Israeli films, including feature films and documentaries such as Eti Tsicko’s Nandauri, Yousef Abo Madegem’s Eid, Dani Rosenberg’s Of Dogs and Men, Yariv Mozer’s We Will Dance Again, Zohar Shachar and Jamal Khalaily’s Bella, Nir Bergman’s Pink Lady, Ben Bachar’s Saving Shuli San, and Or Sinai’s Mama.
Meir Fenigstein, founder and executive director of the Israel Film Festival, said the event comes at a moment when Israeli cultural celebrations are especially important.
“Now, more than ever, is a time for all of us to come together to share and celebrate our rich and culturally diverse communities and Israeli culture.
“This year, Israel Film Festival audiences will truly be entertained by gripping dramas, hilarious comedies, and compelling documentaries created by both new and renowned Israeli filmmakers and starring the country’s most gifted actors,” noted Fenigstein, a musician who was a member of the supergroup Kaveret, and who started the Israel Film Festival while he was a music student in Boston.
“We also look forward to recognizing the valuable artistic contributions made by this year’s honorees, Lawrence Bender and Eran Riklis, and to remembering the late actor Alon Aboutboul.”
Ticket information and the full schedule are available on the festival’s site at https://israelfilmfestival.com