In recent years the Israeli film industry has grown tremendously, with annually more than 2.5 million people worldwide watching Israeli films. Such growth is an achievement of the Israeli Film Fund, which works to engender a sustainable, creative and a vibrant Israeli film industry. In 2000, the Israeli government passed a New Cinema Law to ensure and secure more funding for Israeli cinema.

Filmmaking in Israel has undergone major developments since its inception in the 1950s. The first features produced and directed by Israelis such as “Hill 24 Does Not Answer,” and “They Were Ten,” tended, like Israeli literature of the period, to be cast in the heroic mold.

Some recent films remain deeply rooted in the Israeli experience, dealing with such subjects as Holocaust survivors and their children (Gila Almagor’s “The Summer of Aviya” and its sequel, “Under the Domim Tree”) and the travails of new immigrants (“Sh’hur”, directed by Hannah Azoulai and Shmuel Hasfari, “late Marriage” directed by Dover Koshashvili). 

Others reflect a more predominant trend towards the present Israeli reality, whether dealing with the Israel-Arab and the Jews-Arabs confrontations (Eran Riklis’s “The Lemon Tree”, Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani’s “Ajami”), the military aspects in the Israelis life (Joseph Cedar’s “Beaufort”, Samuel Maoz’s “Lebanon”, Eytan Fox ‘s “Yossi and Jagger”) or set in the context of universalist, somewhat alienated and hedonistic society (Eytan Fox’s “A Siren’s Song” and “The Bubble”, Ayelet Menahemi and Nirit Yaron’s “Tel Aviv Stories”). The Israeli film industry continues to gain worldwide recognition through International awards and nominations.