Roni Aboulafia

Director | Day Trip: Escaping the Taliban

Roni Aboulafia is an award-winning Israeli documentary filmmaker and TV news producer based in Tel Aviv. With over two decades of experience creating critically acclaimed films and series, her work has been showcased at top international festivals, including Sundance, Docaviv, and the Jerusalem Film Festival, and earned an Israeli Academy Award for School of Hope. Beyond her documentary filmmaking, Roni has extensive experience covering the Middle East for major international news networks, including NBC News, CBS News (contributing to 60 Minutes segments), and PBS FRONTLINE. Currently, Roni serves as the Chair of the Israeli Documentary Forum, where she leads the organization’s strategic vision, policy advocacy, and industry initiatives to empower and promote non-fiction storytelling in Israel and globally.

Hillel Assaf

Q+A Moderator | Split

Hillel Assaf is the Director of National Programs at the New Israel Fund (NIF). A native of Jerusalem, he has dedicated his career to advancing democracy, equality, and human rights in Israel. Before assuming his current role in NYC, Hillel served as NIF’s Director of Affiliate Relations. Following the events of October 7th, he led NIF’s immediate response on the ground in Israel—an effort he regards as one of his proudest professional achievements.
He holds an M.A. in Jewish History from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Hanan Brandes

Co-Director | Over & Out

Hanan Brandes is an Israeli screenwriter and director. Served in the military as a journalist and editor for the IDF’s official magazine. Graduating with highest honors, he later completed his film studies at the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem. During his studies, Hanan has produced, edited, and directed a variety of short films, including I Missed You at Synagogue and Half of Me, which were screened worldwide at acclaimed Jewish film festivals and won awards. Over & Out is Hanan’s feature-length directorial debut.

Nick Bunzl

Q+A Moderator | Shalom

Born and raised in the UK, since Nick moved to Riverdale in 1992 with his wife and two – now adult – daughters, he has worked at and led multiple Jewish or Israel-based non profits. After serving three years as President of the Marlene Meyerson JCC in Manhattan, Nick acted as interim Executive Director and joined the staff for two years as Capital Campaign Consultant.

Subsequently, he served as CEO, Israel Policy Forum for three years, a pro-Israel organization in support of the two-state solution and a provider of balanced policy ideas to inform the debate on Israel and the region. After rejoining the JCC Board and working on Development, Finance and Governance, Nick joined Rabbi Joy Levitt, former JCC CEO at the Jerusalem Foundation where he has served as Director of Community Outreach for the last almost three years. Nick has one granddaughter and is expecting a second during the festival!

Marco Carmel

Director | Double Panther
Marco Carmel is an Israeli film and television director and screenwriter.
He has directed eight feature films, including Father’s Footsteps, My Lovely Sister, Noble Savage, Almost Famous, Arugam Bay, and his latest film, Double Panther.

His films have received numerous awards and nominations, including eight Ophir Awards and over 40 nominations.
He has also directed acclaimed television series across a range of genres, including Harem, Enigma, and Deus.
Alongside his filmmaking career, Carmel is an experienced lecturer and filmmaking mentor.

Duki Dror

Director | UNraveling UNRWA

Duki Darwish Dror is an award-winning documentary filmmaker with over 30 films to his name, including Inside the Mossad (Netflix), Lebanon—Borders of Blood, Supernova, a winner of the German Academy Award, and Unraveling UNRWA. Researched by a top-notch international team, his films offer wide perspectives, revealing the human truths behind political rhetoric and challenging viewers to look beyond surface narratives. Co-produced and distributed worldwide, his films have a significant international influence and impact.

Sharon Eyal Azulay

Co-Creator + Screenwriter | Amal

Sharon Eyal Azulay is a screenwriter, creator and attorney. After many years as a partner in a
law firm, she transitioned to film and television. She graduated with highest honors from the
Sam Spiegel Film and Television School.

Since graduating, Sharon has written three feature films that have been produced, screened
at festivals around the world and received awards.

Sharon teaches film and screenwriting at the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School and at
the Open University.

Gazala Halabi

Q+A Panelist | On Thin Ice

Gazala Halabi is the creator of Gazala’s Restaurant which celebrates her heritage as an Israeli Druze. The Druze is a religious minority that lives in harmony in Israel.

Gazala’s fondest memories in life have come from her upbringing in Daliat el- Carmel, Israel. As a young girl, growing up in Israel, where her family operates a restaurant and her grandmother owns a spice shop she creates the food she grew up eating. Gazala prepares all dishes from scratch using imported spices, herbs and olive oil from Lebanon. Her recipes have been handed down from generations. Gazala prepares all of her food with the same pride and heart as her grandmother did.

Danna Harman

Subject | Day Trip: Escaping the Taliban

Danna Harman is a journalist and writer whose work over the past three decades has taken her across Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Central Asia, Europe and North America.

Hilla Medalia

Director + Producer | Outposts: Nothing Here is Yours

Hilla Medalia is an Academy Award®-nominated and Peabody Award-winning documentary director and producer whose work is recognized worldwide for its emotional depth, cultural insight, and narrative boldness. She has received six Emmy nominations for her films, and her projects have screened in the leading film festivals in the world and on major platforms, including HBO, MTV, PBS, BBC, ARTE, Paramount+ and Netflix. As founder of Medalia Productions, she has directed, produced, and collaborated on a diverse range of films that explore personal identity, social complexity, and global issues. Medalia’s work often delves into intimate human stories set against larger cultural and political landscapes, bringing forward voices that challenge audiences and expand understanding. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Producers Guild of America, and holds an M.A. in Film and Television from Southern Illinois University. Her range of titles includes: “Find Me, Okay?” (Best Debut Film award at the Jerusalem Film Festival, 2026, dir: Yula Gidron) Out of Options (CBC, 2026, dir: Hilla Medalia), “Children no More: “Were and are Gone”” (2025, Academy Award Nominated® for Best Documentary Short dir: Hilla Medalia), “Adaptation to Darkness” (Docaviv, Palm Springs 2025 dir: Shay Fogelman), “ADA – My Mother, the Architect” (JFF, 2024, dir: Yael Melamede), “Tropicana” (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Jerusalem Film Festival, 2024, dir:Omer Tob) “Wanted: Roni Kalderon” (DocAviv, 2024, dir: Hilla Medalia, Erez Laufer), “Prisoner X” (2023 Jerusalem Film Festival, dir: Hilla Medalia, Amos Roberts), “Mourning in Lod” (MTV Documentaries, DocAviv, 2023, dir: Hilla Medalia) “Innocence” (Venice International Film Festival, 2022, dir: Guy Davidi), “H2: The Occupation Lab” (Hotdocs, Fipa, 2022, dir: Idit Abrahami, Noam Sheizaf), “Love & Stuff” (HotDocs, DOCNYC, 2020, dir: Judith Helfand), “Leftover Women” (Tribeca, ARTE, 2019, dir: Hilla Medalia, Shosh Shlam),‘Transkids’ (5 Part TV series dir: Hilla Medalia), “The Oslo Diaries” (Sundance, HBO, ARTE, 2018, dir: Mor Loushy, Daniel Sivan), “Muhi” (IDFA, HotDocs, 2017, dir: Rina Castelnuovo-Hollander, Tamir Elterman), “Censored Voices,” (Sundance, Berlinale, 2015, dir: Mor Loushy), “The Go Go Boys” (Cannes, 2014, dir: Hilla Medalia), “Web Junkie” (Sundance, POV, BBC, 2014, dir: Hilla Medalia, Shosh Shlam), “Dancing in Jaffa” (Tribeca, IFC, 2013, dir: Hilla Medalia), “To Die in Jerusalem” (2007 HBO,dir: Hilla Medalia) and more.

Yael Melamede

Producer | Outposts: Nothing Here is Yours

Yael Melamede is an architect-turned-filmmaker and the founder of SALTY Features, an independent production company she launched more than two decades ago to tell thought-provoking and vital stories that enhance the world. She directed ADA – MY MOTHER THE ARCHITECT, the Emmy-nominated FLOYD ABRAMS: SPEAKING FREELY, and (DIS)HONESTY – THE TRUTH ABOUT LIES. Her producing credits include the Oscar-nominated CHILDREN NO MORE: “WERE AND ARE GONE” (dir. Hilla Medalia); the series WHY WE HATE, executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Alex Gibney; the Emmy-winning WHEN I WALK (dir. Jason DaSilva); the Oscar-winning INOCENTE (dir. Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine); THE INNER LIFE OF MARTIN FROST (dir. Paul Auster) and BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN (dir. John Krasinski). She serves on the boards of UnionDocs and the Living City Project and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Mor Polaneur

Second Unit Director | Double Panther

Mor Polanuer is an Israeli actress, director, and multidisciplinary artist. She has performed on stage and screen in Israeli and international productions, including television series and live performances. She co-wrote the screenplay for Arugam Bay with director Marco Carmel and worked alongside him on both Arugam Bay and Double Panther, focusing on second-unit directing and behind-the-scenes filmmaking.

Yotam Polizer

Q+A Panelist | Day Trip: Escaping the Taliban

Yotam Polizer is the Global CEO of IsraAID, Israel’s biggest humanitarian NGO, leading a team of 300+ currently active in 16 countries including a large-scale operation in Israel following the October 7th massacre. IsraAID is currently supporting 16 communities across the country including Kibbutz Beeri, Nir Oz, the Nova survivors and the Bedouin villages with mental health support, education and relief.

Following the August 2021 Afghanistan crisis, Yotam and partners led an operation to evacuate 167 at risk Afghans from the hands of the Taliban. Polizer has also built and led programs targeting disease, disaster relief, and reintegration in Greece, Germany, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Nepal, and Sierra Leone.

Matan Sacofsky

Co-Director | Over & Out

Matan Sacofsky is an Israeli-American film director and visual artist based in Jerusalem, where he runs a studio and gallery. He is a graduate of the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School. His artwork has been exhibited at the 2026 Jerusalem Biennale and the Fresh Paint Art Fair, with solo exhibitions at the Israeli Knesset and the Jerusalem Theatre. Sacofsky also serves as an IDF reserve tank commander and fought at Kibbutz Kfar Aza following the October 7 attack. Over & Out marks his feature-length debut as both cinematographer and co-director.

Simone Saidmehr

Q+A Moderator | Looking for Yadida

Simone Saidmehr is a NY correspondent for Haaretz.

Rabbi Joanna Samuels

Q+A Moderator | Day Trip: Escaping the Taliban

Rabbi Joanna Samuels is the CEO of the JCC Manhattan, which is home to the Other Israel: New Perspectives Film Festival. Prior to joining the MMJCCM, she was the founding executive director of Educational Alliance’s Manny Cantor Center, where she redefined the Jewish Community Center and the Settlement House for a new era. Her work at the Manny Cantor Center was written about in The New York Times, The Daily News, and The Jewish Daily Forward.

Following rabbinic ordination in 2002, Joanna served as the Rabbi of Congregation Habonim in New York City, where her leadership helped to revitalize the synagogue’s community. She also worked as an advocate, strategist, and mentor for women’s advancement and gender equity in the Jewish community at Advancing Women Professionals and the Jewish Community.

Joanna has written for local and national publications and taught at many institutions throughout New York City. Rabbi Samuels graduated magna cum laude from Barnard College and received Rabbinic Ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she was a Wexner Graduate Fellow. She serves on the advisory board of the West Side Campaign Against Hunger and Plaza Jewish Community Chapel and lives on the Upper West Side with her husband and two children, alumni of the Saul and Carole Zabar Nursery School.

Israela Shaer Meoded

Director | Looking for Yadida

Israela Shaer Meoded has directed some ten short and feature-length films that have screened at festivals in Israel and internationally, earning awards and honorable mentions. Her documentary Looking for Yadida, which explores the Yemenite, Mizrahi and Balkan Children Affair, won the Best Director Award at the 2025 Jerusalem Film Festival, is nominated for the Israeli Documentary Filmmakers Forum Award, and has screened at Jewish film festivals across the United States. Shaer Meoded teaches at the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School and at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem, where she serves as Senior Fellow for the Promotion of Equality, Diversity and Shared Life. She recently submitted her doctoral dissertation at the Shirley and Leslie Porter School of Cultural Studies, Tel Aviv University, under the supervision of Prof. Gadi Algazi. The dissertation examines political short films made in Israel in the 1970s and 1980s by Mizrahi women filmmakers.

Karen Shapiro

Q+A Moderator | One Street in Silwan

Karen S. Shapiro is Vice-President of Partners for Progressive Israel and has been active with the organization since its founding over 30 years ago. She is a Board member of the AZM and has actively participated at her synagogue, Kehillat Israel, in Pacific Palisades, CA for over 35 years.

Karen is an award-winning film, television, theatre and music Producer. She produced the critically acclaimed documentary, Eva Hesse, on the 1960’s German/American artist, the Academy Award winning Violet as well as the film festival hit, Beat the Drum, the romantic comedy, The Neighbor and the drama The Low Life. She also produced many television movies including the Emmy Award winning Other Mothers, Between Mother and Daughter, winner of the Humanitas Award. Karen was the Senior Producer overseeing the development, production and post-production of the reality series “Unsolved Mysteries”. She produced several recordings of Jewish music as well as concerts including the much acclaimed Liberation ’95, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of Nazi-occupied Europe, recorded in Tel Aviv with members of the Israel Philharmonic. Two of her short documentaries, Awake and Sing and Together As One were screened accompanied by members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

Avner Shavit

Q+A Moderator | Double Panther

Avner Shavit is Assistant Professor of the Practice in Jewish Studies at Wesleyan University. He is also one of the preeminent film critics in Israel and has been covering both the local and international scenes for two decades.

Shady Srour

Co-Director | Split

Shady Srour is a Palestinian Israeli filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and actor from Nazareth,
working across film, television and theatre. He holds a B.A. in Theatre Acting from Tel Aviv
University and an M.F.A. in Filmmaking from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and
is a graduate of the Mandel Leadership Program. His debut feature, Holy Air, premiered in competition at the Tribeca Film Festival, won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Jerusalem Film Festival, and was theatrically distributed in the United States by Samuel Goldwyn Films. As an actor, Srour appeared in the Academy Award-nominated short film Ave Maria.

His latest fiction work, Fadia, which he co-wrote, directed, produced and stars in, won three Golden
Nymph Awards at the 2026 Monte-Carlo Television Festival, including Best Film and the Special
Jury Prize. The film also won Best Debut Film and Best Original Screenplay at the Haifa
International Film Festival.

Srour has also created and directed documentary projects including Grounded, an eight-part series
exploring Palestinian cuisine and the women preserving rural culinary traditions, and Split, which
examines Arab-Jewish life and relations in mixed cities. He served as Head of Palestinian Directors
on ARTE's international documentary project 24 Hours Jerusalem, winner of the German
Television Award for Best Documentary. He is also a cinema and theatre lecturer and is currently
helping establish the Nazareth Cinematheque, where he is set to serve as Artistic Director.

Jimmy Taber

Q+A Panelist | Amal

Jimmy Taber serves as the International Development Director of The Abraham Initiatives, an Israeli organization working to build a shared society with full and equal access to citizenship for all Israelis – Jewish and Palestinian. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he earned his BA in Critical Theory and Social Justice from Occidental College and his MA and MBA from Brandeis University’s Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program and The Heller School for Social Policy and Management. Prior to joining The Abraham Initiatives, Jimmy worked with organizations including New Israel Fund and Center for International Migration and Integration at JDC-Israel. Jimmy lives on New York’s Upper West Side with his wife Rabbi Mia Simring and two small children, Nava and Ami.

Bissan Tibi

Director | One Street in Silwan

Bissan Tibi is a Palestinian director, born and raised in Neve Shalom–Wahat al-Salam. She studied Film and Television at Tel Aviv University, where she directed two short films and began developing her debut feature documentary.

In 2020, she wrote and directed the short film WENEK. In 2023, she served as Casting Director for All That’s Left of You, directed by Cherien Dabis.

Her 2025 short film SILA screened at four festivals: the Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival, Cinema South Film Festival, FILMSCHOOLFEST MUNICH, and the Jewish Film Festival Berlin Brandenburg. It received three awards: a Film Critics’ Forum Special Mention, a Special Mention for Best Actress, and the Best Director Award at Cinema South.

Her debut feature documentary, One Street in Silwan (2025), premiered in the Official Competition of the Jerusalem Film Festival and later screened at the Solidarity Human Rights Film Festival in Tel Aviv and the Toronto Jewish Film Festival. It also received an Honorary Mention: Feature Film at the Films for World Peace Festival in 2026.

In 2026, she was named one of Docaviv’s 20 Promising Filmmakers Under 40.

Meital Zvieli

Director | Shalom

Meital Zvieli graduated from Jerusalem’s Sam Spiegel Film & Television School screenwriting program with honors. She has over 25 years of experience as a freelance editor, screenwriter, producer, director, and television format developer for all Israeli broadcast channels.

Her feature-length directorial debut, which she also produced and edited, THE CAMERA OF DOCTOR MORRIS, won the Oscar-qualifying Best Israeli Film Award at Docaviv 2022. Most notably, Meital was the Head of Research for the animated documentary WALTZ WITH BASHIR by Ari Folman, a Golden Globe and Cesar winner for Best Foreign Film and Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. 

She was editor and screenwriter for THE LAST LEAGUE, a docu-series about Jewish and Arab football players competing in the last league of Israeli football. She wrote and edited for DESIGNING A NATION, a docu-series about Israel’s design history. Along with writing and editing, Meital directed ADRENALINE, a docu-series examining Israelis’ struggle with technology’s takeover of everyday life. She is the editor of THE SOUTHERN SEA, a docu-series portrait of Eilat, the most remote city in Israel.