‘A Burning Man’ Wins Top Prize at Haifa International Film Festival

“A Burning Man”, the latest film by celebrated Israeli director Eyal Halfon, took home the prestigious Best Israeli Feature award at the 41st Haifa International Film Festival, delivering a poignant and timely portrait of fatherhood in the shadow of national service.

Starring Shai Avivi in a deeply affecting role, the film follows an anxious father who drops his son off for IDF service, only to be overwhelmed by fear, imagination, and unexpected encounters that blur the line between worry and absurdity. Avivi’s performance earned him the Best Performance Award, with the jury praising his “moving, nuanced” portrayal.

“The film captures the reality of parental dread through an unexpected lens,” the jury noted. “Through humorous and ironic encounters, it becomes both deeply personal and universal.”

The festival, one of Israel’s most respected cinematic showcases, also honored Of Dogs and Men by Dani Rosenberg and Some Notes on the Current Situation by Eran Kolirin with the Jury Prize for Narrative Film. Rosenberg’s film follows a teen girl searching for her lost dog after fleeing Nir Oz in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attack — a story that speaks powerfully to the human cost of terror. Kolirin’s work, described as a “philosophical tragicomedy,” brings existential questions to the screen through a series of absurd yet affecting vignettes.

In the documentary category, A Proud Jewish Boy by Isri Halpern won Best Documentary, telling the controversial story of Herschel Grynszpan the Jewish teen whose assassination of a German diplomat in 1938 was exploited by the Nazis to justify Kristallnacht.

Fadia, by Shady Srour, won the Amit Peled Award for Best Debut Film, and its writers Srour and Laurel Hunter also took home the Best Screenplay Award. The film’s powerful narrative explores themes of honor, family, and salvation as one family risks everything to protect a girl marked for death by her own relatives.

The Best Research in a Documentary award went to the team behind Unraveling UNRWA, a critical investigation into the operations of the controversial UN agency, co-directed by Duki Dror.

A special mention was awarded to The Baghdad Files, a documentary that reexamines the 1951 grenade attack on a Baghdad synagogue and the mass immigration of Iraqi Jews to Israel. The award honors the memory of Pnina Blayer, the longtime festival director.

In short film categories, Lens by Bar Cohen won Best Independent Short, and Maybe It’s Even True, directed by Yael Bona, was named Best Animated Short.

On the international front, the Norwegian film Dreams won Best Film in the Carmel International Cinema Competition. Mother, a Belgian-North Macedonian co-production about the legacy of Mother Teresa, received a Special Mention.

The Golden Anchor Award for International Cinema, honoring debut filmmakers, went to Late Shift, a tense Swiss-German medical thriller directed by Petra Volpe. A Special Mention went to the French film Nino, celebrated for its emotional depth and intimacy.

Beyond the red carpet and screenings, the festival hosted four days of industry events and awarded over NIS 175,000 in grants a testament to Israel’s thriving creative scene and its commitment to nurturing local talent.

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