EPOS film fest explores fine art, literature, theater and more

The 17th EPOS International Art Film Festival is set to present a diverse collection of films, showcasing art, literature, architecture, music, dance, theater, and photography from both Israel and international filmmakers. The festival will run from September 16 to September 19 at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

This year marks a significant expansion for EPOS, as it extends its reach beyond Tel Aviv for the first time. A new program, EPOS in the Gilboa, will be hosted at the Mishkan Museum of Art at Ein Harod, in collaboration with the Gilboa Regional Council. From September 17-19, six festival films will be screened in the Gilboa, each followed by a brief lecture related to its subject matter.

The festival's opening film is "Take the Money and Run," a documentary examining the controversial incident involving Danish artist Jens Haaning. The museum had commissioned Haaning with half a million kroner to create a work incorporating banknotes, but he instead returned two empty frames, titling the piece "Take the Money and Run." This act sparked a global debate on conceptual art versus outright theft.

Closing the festival is "Naked Ambition," a film exploring the life of Bunny Yeager, a prominent photographer for Playboy Magazine in the 1950s and 60s. Yeager later gained recognition from feminist movements for her work celebrating female bodies and independence, with her photographs exhibited in American museums.

A special tribute will honor the late Israeli director Ram Loevy with a screening of his film "Bread." The movie depicts a bakery worker's struggle after 20 years of employment and his subsequent hunger strike, highlighting early Israeli cinema's engagement with the economic hardships faced by development towns. The festival also features Israeli films like "Seven Tractates on the Life of Bruria" and "On Her Own," alongside "Ida’s Dance Club," and the Urban Diary competition focusing on Tel Aviv-Jaffa.