Letter of Support

Dear Filmmakers, 

Ticket sales have started and we are very excited to return to the cinema with a ten-day festival that will feature 150 LGBTQ+ movies from around the world.

I wanted to tell you about an open letter signed by over 200 leading entertainers and entertainment industry professionals from around the world in support of our humble film festival in Tel Aviv.

Signatories of the open letter include:  Oscar Award Winner Dame Helen Mirren, Mila Kunis, Billy Porter (Pose), Neil Patrick Harris, Zachary Quinto,  Édgar Ramírez, Mayim Bialik, Phil Rosenthal, Sherry Lansing (Former CEO, Paramount Pictures), Lance Bass, Emmanuelle Chriqui, John Benjamin Hickey, Stephan Elliott (Director, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert)  Greg Berlanti (Director/producer, Love Simon), Paul Feig (Director, Bridesmaids, The Heat, Spy), Greg Daniels (Producer and creator of the series “The Office”, “Parks and Recreation”, “Upload” and more),  Navot Papushado (Gunpowder Milkshake), Melissa Rivers, Jenna Dewan, Stephen Fry, Jonathan Tucker, Sharon Osbourne, Tracy Ann Oberman, Gene Simmons (The band KISS),  Jurgen Bruning (Director/producer), Aharon Keshales (South of Heaven) and Grammy and Emmy Award Winning, and 13 time Oscar Award nominated songwriter and producer Diane Warren amongst many others.

can read the open letter by clicking here and see the full list of 200+ film industry leaders who have spoken up in support of our festival and all of you, the filmmakers.

If you would like to add your name to the letter, feel free to email: [email protected]

We are also excited to announce that this year’s festival also includes a number of Queer Palestinian participants who also believe in peace and building bridges between our cultures through film and the arts. In this regard, we will have a special panel about Queer Palestinian Cinema that will include Palestinian filmmaker & politician Ibtisam Mara’ana, activist, actress and filmmaker Samira Saraya (Samira is the host of the opening night too), and director Rami Fahel, who will also be presenting his short movie, “Mlukhiye” at the festival. The panel will be moderated by Khader Abu-Seif from the movie “Oriented” (TLVFest 2016 opening night movie).

I am very proud to present your movies at TLVFest and hope to meet all of you in the future when travel is once again safe for everyone.

Sincerely,

Yair Hochner
TLVFest Founder + Artistic Director