cultural_lead_>

queer_film_festival_jerusalem_(@qff_jlm)_

my_role_

founder, artistic director, and chief producer (2021-2023)

the_genesis_

i founded the queer film festival jerusalem as a community-driven mission to carve out an uncompromised space for experimental queer cinema within the complex, multi-sectarian reality of jerusalem. serving as both artistic director and chief producer for three consecutive years, i curated an intersectional platform prioritizing voices systematically pushed to the margins—specifically trans and queer individuals, mizrahi women, peripheral artists, and palestinian creators. believing in moving images as a radical, accessible medium, i used experimental cinema to bridge cultural and linguistic divides, fostering raw dialogue between disparate identities sharing a contested local space.

the_scale_

under my leadership, @qff_jlm evolved into the only active queer film festival in jerusalem. i curated and produced screenings of 5 critically acclaimed feature-length films and 37 shorts, bridging the gap between emerging local student filmmakers and commercial artworks, fresh from global bastions like Cannes, Sundance, TIFF, and the Berlinale.
the final iteration under my management reached an unprecedented scale, gathering over 300 patrons within the new auditorium of the bezalel academy of arts and design, and cementing a long-term collaboration with the jerusalem open house for pride and tolerance.

the_dialectic_

at the core of my artistic vision was a distinct dialectic that positioned the queer mizrahi (middle eastern jewish) narrative as a primary axis for regional decolonial dialogue. recognizing the deep historical, cultural, and linguistic ties of sephardic and mizrahi jews to the middle eastern culture, i designed public panels and screenings that rejected eurocentric binaries. by uniting queer mizrahi and palestinian creators through shared frameworks of struggle, the festival put into practice a radical model of 'tikun olam' (תיקון עולם) demanding dignity and self-determination for palestinians while honoring jewish historical connection to the same soil.

crisis_intervention_

following the catastrophic events of october 7th, i recognized an immediate systemic vacuum and a lack of support for the city's young creative community, who were left to navigate personal loss and nation-wide trauma in isolation. in response, i initiated an emergency crisis-writing workshop in collaboration with international screenwriter Assaf Asheri. supported by the reformic jewish center and the lgbtq student coalition, i held space for young artists - queer and allies alike - to process trauma through creative writing, maintaining the vital social fabric of jerusalem's creative underground during a period of acute collapse.

VISIT_QFF_JLM_