42nd time: Jerusalem International Film Festival

The Jerusalem International Film Festival - Israel's largest, leading, and oldest film event - will mark its 42nd edition this year. The festival team is proud to announce that the Israeli-international star, Gal Gadot, will be the guest of honor at the festival and will receive a tribute award on stage at the opening night at Sultan's Pool on July 17, in front of an audience of 6,000 people.

Gadot, a supermodel, producer and one of the most successful actresses in Israel and the world, has established herself in recent years as the biggest international star to come from Israel, leading unprecedented hits. In March 2025, she was the first Israeli to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The tribute award will be given to Gadot for her contribution to the international film world and her impressive success over nearly two decades of work. Gadot is best known for her impressive international career, and her activity in Hollywood has opened doors for Israeli creators around the world while raising awareness of Israeli culture on the international stage.

The festival team said: "The choice of Gal Gadot as the guest of honor of the 42nd edition is natural and obvious. Gal began her career here in Israel and has become one of the most recognizable international stars in the world, while maintaining a deep connection to her Israeli roots. Gal is not only a global star, but also a cultural ambassador for Israel and Israeli cinema. At the Jerusalem Film Festival, where we celebrate the best of Israeli and international cinema, there is no one more suitable than Gal to receive this tribute."

Alongside Gal Gadot, producer Lawrence Bender ("Pulp Fiction", "Good Will Hunting"), whose films have won nine Oscars, will also receive a tribute award. Bender will also be a guest of honor at the festival on opening night, July 17. Lawrence Bender has been one of the most important voices in Hollywood for three decades, with his films nominated for 37 Academy Awards, nine of which they won. Bender became famous for his fruitful partnership with director Quentin Tarantino and the production of the film "Reservoir Dogs" (1992).

Since then, he has produced a number of films that have become groundbreaking and most influential in contemporary cinema, from "Pulp Fiction" and "Good Will Hunting" to "Kill Bill" and the Netflix hit "Spenser Confidential". Bender also produced the Oscar-winning short film "Two Distant Strangers", and a number of documentaries, the most prominent of which is "An Inconvenient Truth" (2006), which won the Oscar for Best Documentary, and raised global awareness of climate change.

The Jerusalem International Film Festival will present a rich artistic program, including dozens of premieres of films from around the world, a first exposure to the best of Israeli cinema, as well as talked-about films that have won awards at leading festivals in the world, including Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Sundance and others. The 42nd edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival will open on July 17 (Thursday) as tradition dictates, at an event in Sultan's Pool, under the open sky, in front of an audience of 6,000 spectators and guests.

The 42nd festival, headed by the CEO of the Jerusalem Cinematheque and the festival director Roni Mahadav-Levin, and under the artistic direction of Or Sigoli.

The Jerusalem Film Festival is held with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Van Leer Foundation, the Jerusalem Foundation and the Jerusalem Municipality.

Full details on the opening event, the artistic program, screening dates and ticket booking - will appear later on the official festival website: https://jff.org.il/he

(Photo: Courtesy of the Jerusalem Film Festival)