TLVFest

TLVFest was founded by Yair Hochner. The first-ever LGBT film festival in Tel Aviv was held in 2006, and focused on LGBT-themed films that would otherwise never have received theatrical, TV or DVD distribution in Israel. The festival took place at the Ha’ozen Hashlishit (Hebrew for "Third Ear") music venue on King George Street and screened in five tiny theaters{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://www.tlvfest.com/%D7%90%D7%95%D7%93%D7%95%D7%AA/ |access-date=2024-02-02 |website=TLVFest |language=en-US}} of 20–40 seats each.

The festival opened with Greg Araki’s Mysterious Skin and the festival sold out every film, attracting more than 2,000 people.

The festival moved to the bigger Tel Aviv Cinematheque in 2007. IndieWire included it in its list of "10 LGBT Fests You Can’t Miss" in 2014 and 2015.{{Cite web |last=bent |date=2015-05-20 |title=Big Summer Film Festival Preview: 10 LGBT Fests You Can’t Miss |url=https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/big-summer-film-festival-preview-10-lgbt-fests-you-cant-miss-215257/ |access-date=2024-02-02 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}

TLVFest founded TLVFest Drag Star Search, a competition for Israeli drag queens and drag kings. It has hosted drag artists from around the world including Peaches Christ, Sherry Vine, Jinkx Monsoon, Sharon Needles, Peppermint, and Alexis Michelle.

In 2020, due to COVID-19, the festival moved to November.{{Cite web |title=TLVFest New Dates {{!}} TLVFest |url=http://tlvfest.com/tlv/he/2020/03/19/tlvfest-new-dates/ |access-date=2020-10-28 |language=en-US}}

Over the years, the festival's guests have included Alan Cumming, Lea DeLaria, film producer Christine Vachon (Boys Don’t Cry, Carol, Far From Heaven); LGBT community 'legends' such as Bruce La Bruce, John Waters-star Mink Stole, Wieland Speck (Berlinale Panorama curator), Michael Stutz, Kim Yutani (director of programming for the Sundance Film Festival), Lorenzo Vigas (Golden Lion Award Winner/Venice Film Festival – From Afar), Marcio Reolon, Filipe Matzembacher (Teddy Award Winner/Berlin International Film Festival – Hard Paint), Martín Rodríguez Redondo (Marilyn), Jay Brannan (Shortbus), Jamie Babbit (But I’m a Cheerleader), Angela Robinson (D.E.B.S.), Cheryl Dunye (The Watermelon Woman), Mark Christopher (54), Alantė Kavaitė (The Summer of Sangailė), Daniel Ribeiro (The Way He Looks), Melanie Mayron (Snapshots), Madeleine Olnek (Wild Nights with Emily), Thom Fitzgerald (The Hanging Garden); international trans activists and performers: Buck Angel, Gigi Gorgeous, Miss Rosewood, Zazie de Paris, Maya Jafer and many more.{{Cite web|title=About {{!}} TLVFest|url=http://tlvfest.com/tlv/he/2020/03/05/about/|access-date=2020-10-28|language=en-US}}

• 2006 - Mysterious Skin{{Cite web|title=About {{!}} TLVFest|url=http://tlvfest.com/tlv/he/2020/03/05/about/|access-date=2020-10-28|language=en-US}}
• 2007 - The Gymnast{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=TLVFest 2007|url=http://tlvfest.com/2007/movies/thegymnast.htm|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-28|website=tlvfest.com}}
• 2008 - FD Tel Aviv{{Cite web|title=program2008.doc|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TXcmT9X3sZm5km3sOVpp9x1w5_kFvqJj/view?usp=drive_open&usp=embed_facebook|access-date=2020-10-28|website=Google Docs}}
• 2009 - Strella{{Cite web|title=TLVFest2009.pdf|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OcfKbMusm4E3JUxcWRwHsvtrED98aHO9/view?usp=drive_open&usp=embed_facebook|access-date=2020-10-28|website=Google Docs}}
• 2010 - I Love you Phillip Morris{{Cite web|title=TLVFest » אני אוהב אותך, פיליפ מוריס|url=http://www.tlvfest.com/he/?p=626|access-date=2020-10-28|language=he-IL}}
• 2011 - Melting Away{{Cite web|title=TLVFest » OPENING NIGHT FILM: Melting Away|url=http://www.tlvfest.com/en/?p=667|access-date=2020-10-28|language=en-US}}
• 2012 - Leave It on the Floor{{Cite web|title=TLVFest » אירוע הפתיחה|url=http://www.tlvfest.com/he/?p=3183|access-date=2020-10-28|language=he-IL}}
• 2013 - Snails in The Rain{{Cite web|title=TLVFest » אירוע פתיחה|url=http://www.tlvfest.com/he/?p=4424|access-date=2020-10-28|language=he-IL}}
• 2014 - Guttman X 5 {{Cite web|title=TLVFest » אירוע הפתיחה: גוטמן כפול חמש|url=http://www.tlvfest.com/he/?p=6721|access-date=2020-10-28|language=he-IL}}
• 2015 - Fresno{{Cite web|title=TLVFest » אירוע הפתיחה – פסטיבל 2015|url=http://www.tlvfest.com/he/?p=8488|access-date=2020-10-28|language=he-IL}}
• 2016 - Oriented{{Cite web|title=אירוע הפתיחה: אוריינטד {{!}} TLVFest|url=http://tlvfest.com/tlv/he/2016/04/11/%d7%90%d7%99%d7%a8%d7%95%d7%a2-%d7%94%d7%a4%d7%aa%d7%99%d7%97%d7%94-%d7%90%d7%95%d7%a8%d7%99%d7%99%d7%a0%d7%98%d7%93/|access-date=2020-10-28|language=he-IL}}
• 2017 - The Wound{{Cite web|title=אירוע פתיחה פסטיבל 2017 {{!}} TLVFest|url=http://tlvfest.com/tlv/he/2017/04/19/%d7%90%d7%99%d7%a8%d7%95%d7%a2-%d7%a4%d7%aa%d7%99%d7%97%d7%94-%d7%a4%d7%a1%d7%98%d7%99%d7%91%d7%9c-2017/|access-date=2020-10-28|language=he-IL}}
• 2018 - My Days of Mercy{{Cite web|title=אירוע פתיחה בחסות UBS – הקרנת הסרט "מרסי" {{!}} TLVFest|url=http://tlvfest.com/tlv/he/2018/04/22/mercy/|access-date=2020-10-28|language=he-IL}}
• 2019 - 15 Years {{Cite web|title=15 שנה – אירוע פתיחה חגיגי {{!}} TLVFest|url=http://tlvfest.com/tlv/he/2019/05/03/heb-15-years/|access-date=2020-10-28|language=he-IL}}

• Mysterious Skin. Directed by Greg Araki
• One Kiss. Directed by Ivan Cotroneo
• The Wound. Directed by John Trengove

The Israeli Film Council threatened to withdraw funding for the festival; however it did not cancel the funding.

A number of scheduled speakers canceled their attendance at the event in response to pressure from the BDS movement.{{cite news|title=Wave of Cancellations Hits Tel Aviv LGBT Film Festival Due to BDS Pressure|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-wave-of-cancellations-at-lgbt-film-festival-due-to-bds-pressure-1.5478391|work=Haaretz|first=Itay|last=Stern|date=May 29, 2017}}{{cite news|title=TEL AVIV LGBT FILM FESTIVAL TARGETED BY ANTI-ISRAEL BOYCOTTERS|url=https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Tel-Aviv-LGBT-film-festival-targeted-by-BDS-494215|work=Jerusalem Post|date=May 29, 2017|first=Ami|last=Spiro}}{{Cite web|url=https://imemc.org/article/wave-of-boycotts-hits-israeli-lgbt-film-festival-as-international-artists-heed-palestinian-call-to-respect-picket-line/|title=Wave of Boycotts Hits Israeli LGBT Film Festival as International Artists Heed Palestinian Call to Respect Picket Line|first=IMEMC News &|last=Agencies}} The speakers who withdrew their participation are South African director John Trengrove, Canadian author and screenwriter of Pakistani descent Fawzia Mirza, Palestinian Nadia Ibrahim, who was supposed to sit in a jury panel, and Swiss Jasna Fritzi Bauer, though only Trengrove, Mirza and Ibrahim cited the BDS movement. Jasna Fritzi Bauer and Helene Hegemann claimed schedule clashes as a reason for cancellation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2017/05/queer-filmmakers-boycotting-israels-lgbtq-film-festival/|title=Why queer filmmakers are boycotting Israel's LGBTQ film festival|first=Dawn|last=Ennis|date=May 30, 2017|website=LGBTQ Nation}} Despite speakers withdrawal, there were not changes in the screen program and the films of those who cancelled their participation were shown during the festival. John Trengrove cancelled his participation after he arrived to Israel on festival dime.{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-wave-of-cancellations-at-lgbt-film-festival-due-to-bds-pressure-1.5478391|title=Wave of Cancellations Hits Tel Aviv LGBT Film Festival Due to BDS Pressure|first=Itay|last=Stern|date=May 29, 2017|newspaper=Haaretz}} Palestinian Israeli actress Samira Saraya and filmmaker Maysaloun Hamoud participated in the festival.{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Tel-Aviv-LGBT-film-festival-targeted-by-BDS-494215|title=Tel Aviv LGBT film festival targeted by BDS|website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com}}

More than 100 filmmakers from 15 countries signed a petition launched by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel calling for a boycott of the festival out of solidarity with the struggle by the Palestinian queer community. Among the signatories are filmmakers Charlotte Prodger, Alain Guiraudie, Thomas Allen Harris, Harjant Gill, Ian Iqbal Rashid, Sarah Schulman, John Greyson, Adrian Stimson, Richard Fung, Catherine Gund and Raquel Freire, as well as film scholars Alexandra Juhasz, Thomas Waugh, Marc Siegel, Shohini Ghosh and Chris Berry.Itay Stern: [https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-over-100-lgbt-filmmakers-abroad-call-for-boycott-of-tel-aviv-festival-1.8630370 Over 100 LGBT Filmmakers Abroad Call for Boycott of Tel Aviv Festival] / [https://www.haaretz.co.il/gallery/cinema/1.8629769 קולנוענים בעולם קוראים להחרמת הפסטיבל הגאה בת"א כהזדהות עם הפלסטינים]. In: Haaretz, 6 March 2020; Alex Ritman: [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/80-lgbtq-filmmakers-boycott-israeli-film-festival-1282029 100-Plus LGBTQ Filmmakers to Boycott Israeli Festival] The Hollywood Reporter, 4 March 2020; Hannah Brown: [https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Culture/Filmmakers-call-for-a-boycott-of-TLVFest-619537 Filmmakers call for a boycott of TLVFest] Jerusalem Post, 2 March 2020; Stuart Winer: [https://www.timesofisrael.com/100-lgbt-filmmakers-to-boycott-tel-aviv-festival-to-support-queer-palestinians/ 100 LGBT filmmakers to boycott Tel Aviv festival to support queer Palestinians] Times of Israel, 2 March 2020; [https://bdsmovement.net/news/130-queer-filmmakers-pledge-not-participate-israeli-government-sponsored-lgbt-film-festival 130 Queer Filmmakers Pledge Not to Participate in Israeli Government Sponsored LGBT Film Festival] BDS, 2 March 2020;

In October 2021, over 200 celebrities, including Mila Kunis, Billy Porter, Neil Patrick Harris, Helen Mirren, Lance Bass and Jeremy Piven, signed an open letter rejecting calls for a boycott of the Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival.{{Cite web|title=Over 200 celebrities sign letter denouncing boycott of Israel|url=https://www.jpost.com/bds-threat/mila-kunis-over-200-other-celebrities-sign-letter-denouncing-boycott-of-israel-683315|access-date=2021-11-01|website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com|language=en-US}}

{{reflist}}

• {{official website|http://www.tlvfest.com/en/}}

{{LGBT in Israel}}{{Tourism in Tel Aviv}}{{portal bar|Israel|LGBTQ}}

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Category:Film festivals in Israel

Category:LGBTQ culture in Tel Aviv

Category:LGBTQ film festivals in Asia

Category:LGBTQ events in Israel

Category:Festivals in Tel Aviv

Category:LGBTQ-related controversies in film

Category:2006 establishments in Israel