11/11/2025 | 15:30 | Cinematheque - Hall 2
Animated documentaries are an evolving cinematic genre that blends the imaginative with the real, telling personal, social, or communal stories through a unique visual language. The medium enables to express memories, emotions, and perspectives that are often difficult to capture with a camera, thus pushing the boundaries of documentary storytelling.
In the South- where life is saturated with stories of transformation, identity, place, and community - this fusion of animation and documentary offers a powerful new way to portray the Negev in poetic, emotionally resonant ways.
Animated Addictions
A compilation of short animated films created by second-year animation students at the School of Audio & Visual Arts at Sapir College. Each film is inspired by testimonies from the podcast Addicted (“Mekhurim”).
These works offer diverse, deeply personal animated interpretations of stories dealing with addiction to alcohol, drugs, medication, self-harm, and more- alongside narratives of recovery and life after addiction.
Masterclass: There Are No Witches in the Valley- Between Documentary and Animation
Moderated by Ayala Sharot
In this masterclass, filmmaker Ayala Sharot will share the creative journey of her film There Are No Witches in the Valley- which began as an idea for a feature-length documentary, evolved into an award-winning short animated film, and is now developing into a hybrid project combining live action, animation, and archival footage.
Sharot will discuss the personal and artistic process that led her from directing animation to documentary filmmaking, and explore the points of intersection and tension between the two disciplines: between documentation and illustration, between truth and imagination, and between the creator’s inner voice and the historical and personal realities she investigates.
Ayala Sharot is a director and screenwriter specializing in animated documentaries. A graduate of Central Saint Martins in London, her film Broken Branches won Best Short Film at the Haifa International Film Festival and was screened internationally. Her new film, There Are No Witches in the Valley, was nominated for an Ophir Award and premiered at the Haifa Film Festival. In addition to her personal projects, she directs animation for museums, visitor centers, and documentary series and films. She currently serves as chair of the Israeli Animation Guild.
Open Mic for Creators
A short, dynamic session where registered participants will be invited to briefly introduce themselves, their project, and the kind of collaborators they seek for the project’s next stage.
An excellent opportunity to forge new professional connections between documentary filmmakers and animators.
Click here to sign up for the event
