LOGLINE
A queer musical set in Jerusalem’s only queer bar on the eve of a threatened Pride parade—desire, faith, fear, and resistance collide overnight.

SYNOPSIS
Yesterday, the Jerusalem Pride Parade was cancelled due to violent religious opposition. Tomorrow, a small pride event is scheduled to take place despite grave danger. Tonight, a young religious woman is about to cross the lines.

Blending fiction, documentary footage, and musical performance, the film portrays a Jewish-Palestinian queer community struggling for the basic right to exist in a city where its presence is fiercely contested. Reality, music, drag, and protest converge to expose both the fragility and the power of a community fighting for love rather than hate.

MAJOR AWARDS

• First Prize, TLVFest – Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival (2008)

• First Prize, Goethe-Institut Competition for Films Dealing with Human Rights (2008)

• Cheries-Cheris, Paris International LGBT Film Festival — First Prize (2011)

OFFICIAL SELECTIONS & PREMIERES

• Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival), Panorama — Official Selection (2009)

• International Premiere, Berlin International Film Festival (2009)

• U.S. Premiere, Palm Springs International ShortFest (2009)

ADDITIONAL FESTIVALS & HIGHLIGHTS (selected)

2009

• Palm Springs International ShortFest, USA

• IRIS Prize, Wales — Shortlist Nomination

• NewFest, New York LGBT Film Festival, USA

• Image+Nation International Film Festival, Montreal, Canada

• Barcelona International LGBT Film Festival, Spain

• LGBT Film Days Festival, Riga, Latvia

• SELFF International Short Film Festival, Korea

• Out Film International LGBT Film Festival, Connecticut, USA

• IDEM International Audio-Visual Art Festival, Andalusia, Spain

• Arizona International Short Film Festival, USA

• San Francisco International Jewish Film Festival, USA

• Era New Horizons International Film Festival, Poland

• Video Art International Festival, Verona, Italy

• GAZE International LGBT Film Festival, Dublin, Ireland

• Rooftop Films, New York, USA

• Freiburg International LGBT Film Festival, Germany

• Verzaubert Film Festival (Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne, Munich), Germany

• OutView International LGBT Film Festival, Athens, Greece

• MIX Mexico International LGBT Film Festival, Mexico

• Hull International Short Film Festival, UK

• Queersicht International LGBT Film Festival, Bern, Switzerland

• Pink Apple International LGBT Film Festival, Zurich, Switzerland

• LGBT International Film Festival, Uruguay

• Madrid International LGBT Film Festival, Spain

• Hamburg International LGBT Film Festival, Germany

• Human Rights Film Festival, Albania

• Reel Affirmations International LGBT Film Festival, Washington, USA

• THIS HUMAN WORLD Human Rights Film Festival, Vienna, Austria

• Perlen International Short Film Festival, Hanover, Germany

2010

• Warsaw International Jewish Film Festival, Poland

• IF Istanbul Independent Film Festival, Turkey

• Queer International Film Festival, Mumbai, India

• Thessaloniki (Salonika) International LGBT Film Festival, Greece

• Roze Filmdagen International LGBT Film Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands

• Austin Jewish Film Festival, USA

• Asian International Film Festival, Japan

• Queer Art Biennale, Slovakia

• Queer Movie Nights, Halle (Saale), Germany

• Filmmore International Women’s Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey

2011

• Cheries-Cheris Paris International LGBT Film Festival, France

• CULTURESCAPES International Art Festival, Basel, Switzerland

• Rencontres In&Out International Film Festival, France

2012

• Cineffable – International Feminist Film Festival, Paris, France

CAST & CREW

• Writer / Director / Producer: Netalie Braun

• Cast: Adili Liberman, Samira Saraya, Noga Meltzer, Gil Naveh, Elisha Alexander

• Cinematography: Avigail Sperber

• Editor: Tali Hayat

• Sound Design: Carmel Tzameret

PRESS

• The official Berlinale Panorama program positioned Gevald explicitly as a queer musical, highlighting its hybrid form and political urgency.

SUPPORTED BY
Gevald was created as a spontaneous, no-budget initiative by members of Jerusalem’s queer community—both from within the film industry and outside of it—who volunteered their time and labor in response to an urgent political and social threat.