The Eilat International Film Festival is an international film festival

Film festival

A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...

 held annually in the resort city of Eilat, on the southern tip of Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, on the northern shores of the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

.

The festival was established in 2003 by Chen Sadan Shelach, former leading Israeli publicist (who died recently).

The festival focuses on quality films the world over, Israeli premieres, children's films and each edition hosts a different specialized category. In addition, every festival hosts a variety of workshops and related events. Guests who have attended the festival include, American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actress Valerie Harper

Valerie Harper

Valerie Harper is an American actress, known for her role as Rhoda Morgenstern on the 1970s television show The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and for her starring roles on the sitcoms Rhoda and Valerie.-Early life and career:Harper was born at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, Rockland County,...

, Oscar winner

79th Academy Awards

The 79th Academy Awards ceremony , honored the best films of 2006 and took place on February 25, 2007 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on ABC. Ellen DeGeneres hosted the ceremony for the first time. The producer was Laura Ziskin. The announcers were Don LaFontaine and Gina Tuttle.The nominees were...

 Ari Sandel

Ari Sandel

Ari Sandel is the director of the short film, West Bank Story, which won the 2006 Academy Award in the category Best Short Film ....

, cinematographer

Cinematographer

A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...

 Adam Greenberg

Adam Greenberg (cinematographer)

Adam Greenberg, A.S.C. is a cinematographer noted for his work in Israel and The United States, including numerous films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger...

, TV director Jeremy Kagen, leading Hollywood

Cinema of the United States

The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...

 producers Avi Lerner

Avi Lerner

Avinoam Lerner is an Israeli-born film producer, primarily of American action movies.-Life and career:Lerner originally worked in movie theaters in Tel Aviv, but soon re-located to South Africa, where he produced several films in that country and also owned a chain of movie theaters there until he...

 and Dan Dimbort and additionally a host of Israeli leading industry professionals and celebrities.

The first festival opened the night the Iraq War started - an event which caused increased interest from leading international media outlets who in turn interviewed the international guests whom decided to attend the festival despite the threat of imminent missile attack on Israel.

External links

• Eilat International Film Festival official website