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Keren Ben Rafael

Director
Keren Ben Rafael is a French-Israeli director and screenwriter known for her work in independent cinema. She made her directorial debut in 2018 with the film VIRGINS, which received critical acclaim and was shown at various film festivals. With THE END OF LOVE (2020), she once again established herself as a sensitive and profound storyteller. The film highlights the challenges of a long-distance relationship in the age of modern technology and was praised for its authenticity and emotional depth. Ben Rafael's unique narrative style and her focus on character-driven stories have helped her to make a name for herself in the film industry.

Films

Virgins

Virgins

By Keren Ben Rafael

2018 | 90 min | Drama

When a local fisherman claims to have seen a mermaid, tourists flock to the beach at Kiryat Yam, saving teenaged Lana from yet another boring summer.

The End of Love

The End of Love

By Keren Ben Rafael

2020 | 90 min | Drama

Love at a distance: can a relationship last if everyday life is shared only on screen?

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Talk to Me

Talk to Me

2023 | 79 min | Drama

Karo (28) is newly separated and struggling with the non-existent relationship with her father. When her mother Michaela (50) wants to go on vacation with her to the island of Rügen, Karo suspects another failed male story behind it. What starts as a spontaneous trip quickly turns out to be a journey into the past of two women who couldn't be more different: Michaela wants distraction, Karo wants peace. When they arrive at the hotel, they meet the newly divorced Jochen (60) and his teenage daughter ...

Blue Summer Symphony

Blue Summer Symphony

2017 | 29 min | Shorts

The open-air swimming pool, a sociotope and microcosm of society: different people, half naked in a confined space, share an afternoon, a moment with each other and as quickly as it has come, so quickly it has gone again. That's the poetry inherent in the banality of everyday life. For her third year project, Sinje Köhler observes the figures in the outdoor pool and also sheds light on the architecture of this special landscape.

Snowman

Snowman

2018 | 20 min | Drama

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Lucky Child

Lucky Child

2014 | 22 min | Drama

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Gate #5

Gate #5

2011 | 84 min | Documentary

Through eloquent descriptions of former truck drivers, El Habre presents The Lebanon of the 1960s to the present day. They were once young, thrived on adventure and had choices. In the 1960s and 70s thousands of young Lebanese men left their villages and made a new life in Beirut. Truck driving became a lifestyle, income, money, and a vibrant urban life.

Talea

Talea

2013 | 75 min | Drama

It's summer holidays, and the planned Italian holiday with Jasmin's foster family is just around the corner. Everyone is looking forward to the trip - except Jasmin. She wants to be with Eva, her mother, who is available to Jasmin for the first time after a long prison term. For weeks Jasmin has been seeking Eva's closeness, she does not give up, even if she is rejected by her. After a fight with her foster family, Jasmin runs away and persuades Eva to spend a short holiday in the countryside with ...

A Dog You Are

A Dog You Are

2021 | 12 min | Shorts

Set against the backdrop of a village swimming pool that becomes a focal point of daily peculiarities, Benjamin Laabmayr's first film delves into the unique blend of the mundane with the extraordinary. Through his lens, the everyday activities of the pool's visitors transform into a series of whimsical vignettes, weaving a narrative rich in humor and surreal observation. Laabmayr's work is a study in contrasts, blending documentary-style realism with elements of staged absurdity, challenging viewers ...

Pietas

Pietas

2007 | 36 min | Drama

Preacher Caspar lives with his son Friedel in the hinterlands north of Cologne, Germany. When Hannah, who yearns for a life of freedom and self-determination, is given into his care, Friedel develops tender feelings for her. He is torn between his Christian world view and his yearning for Hannah. Matthias vom Schemm's graduation film from the Cologne International Film School won the Cologne Design Prize and was nominated for numerous prizes, including the German Camera Prize and the FIRST STEPS ...

The Long Summer Of Theory

The Long Summer Of Theory

2017 | 82 min | Drama

These three live precarious lives. Katja is a struggling actress. She gets by renting out apartments to tourists. Martina is a photographer who has no interest in her curator's flattery and prefers to scream her head off on stage with her punk band. Filmmaker Nola seeks to answer the question whether theory can still be translated into political practice today. In THE LONG SUMMER OF THEORY the women go on a search for meaning in an increasingly divided society. Especially Nola interviews sociologists, ...

Sweat

Sweat

2014 | 30 min | Queer

Sweat tells of the last days of the friendship of two girls. Marion and Elisa live in a village that offers them nothing. They roam the neighborhood, go to the disco, watch videos, swim in the pond and fight. In search of emotion and boundaries, they dive into an aggressive world, where they give free rein to anger against the ordinary and learn about the new, unexpectedly erupting forces within themselves as a result. In the beautifully photographed vacuum of a village cosmos, director Iris Blauensteiner ...