- September 8, 2025
- 10:31 am
- Ukraine
Ukraine lives under missiles but does not cancel culture. At OIFF-2025, the Israeli drama “The Property” reminds us: the return of memory is also an act of resistance.
Bloody Aggression and Parallel with the Plot
Russia is waging a war of annihilation, and this is no longer news but a daily reality. In such silence after explosions, it is especially clear what “The Property” speaks about: violence tries to erase biographies, but love and memory bring them back.
This is exactly how the parallel works. When people are deprived of homes and futures — in the past or today — they still search for their keys, names, letters. And they find them.
OIFF-2025: Where, When, and Why
Dates, Location, Motto
From September 24 to October 4, 2025, the festival takes place in Kyiv. This is the 16th OIFF — and perhaps the most stubborn: the war did not become a reason to be silent. The slogan “Resilience in Our DNA” is not marketing but a survival mindset in culture.
The film festival website – https://new.oiff.com.ua/
Thematic Accents
The festival gathers four major lines: war, emigration, family, and memory. The task is simple and complex at the same time: to speak without slogans, but directly.
War and Emigration
Cinema captures anxiety, relocations, the attempt to pack life into a suitcase. Heroes seek a new home and the right to a voice.
Family and Memory
Here, cameras capture not only faces but also pauses. Memory sits in pauses, and it is these that directors are not afraid of.
“The Property” — Israeli Drama at OIFF-2025
What the Story Seems to Be About
“The Property” (2024, Israel / Poland, directed by Dana Modan) begins with a tragedy: elderly Regina loses her son. Only two months have passed, but she decides to go to Poland with her granddaughter Mika.
On the surface, there is a quite rational goal: to try to reclaim ancestral property that was confiscated from her family during World War II. Papers, courts, archives — all this resembles an ordinary legal process.
Regina’s Personal Secret
But behind this lies another, much more intimate reason. Seventy years ago, the war tore her first love from her life. A person she never saw again. The trip becomes for Regina not only a struggle for a home but also a search for that very feeling that defined her youth.
A Search That Goes Beyond
Polish streets, houses, cemeteries — everything reminds that the past is not buried. Regina looks not only at documents but also at the faces of passersby. Any stranger could be the one she lost.
The Role of the Granddaughter
For Mika, this trip is a discovery of family history. The younger generation often knows about the past only from fragments of stories. Here she becomes a witness to how the family’s secret comes to life before her eyes. For her, it is a lesson: memory cannot be erased, even if for decades they tried not to speak.
“We are going for papers, but in fact — for what cannot be touched by hands,” — this is how the essence of the heroines’ journey can be described.
Historical Background
Confiscations and Broken Lives
During World War II, thousands of Jewish families in Poland were deprived of everything. Homes passed to other owners, property was sold or destroyed, families disappeared in camps. For those who survived and emigrated, memories of the abandoned home became part of personal pain.
Restitution as Trauma
Formally, it is about the return of property. But behind cold terms hide children’s toys, old photographs, letters, kitchen smells, and voices that are no more. For Regina, this process becomes symbolic: she returns not so much property as the right to her story.
Connection with Modernity
That is why the film resonates so strongly in Ukraine. Today’s refugees and destroyed cities — it’s the same logic: people are deprived of homes and the past. “The Property” shows that this pain does not disappear until it is named.
Visual Language and Mood
Camera as a Witness
Dana Modan builds the film without loud gestures. More important are not major events, but glances and pauses. The camera lingers on details — old walls, windows, the hands of the heroes. Through such strokes, the viewer understands more than through long monologues.
Atmosphere
The plot develops slowly, but the tension remains all the time. There is almost no direct action in the film, but there is anticipation. The viewer waits with Regina — for an answer, a meeting, a memory.
Significance for the Israeli Audience
For Jewish families, this story is not abstract. Each has its own “property” lost during the Holocaust: a house, land, photographs, or just names. The film reminds us that behind dry numbers are living destinies.
For Israel, “The Property” is not just an artistic picture. It is a way to repeatedly return to the theme of memory so that it does not dissolve into statistics.
And for Ukraine, the film became a symbolic dialogue: the foreign experience of the Holocaust helps to speak about the current aggression, about destroyed homes and families.
Dana Modan: Why Her Story
Portrait of the Author
Dana Modan is an Israeli screenwriter and actress from Tel Aviv; known for series like “Love Hurts,” “Ananda,” “That’s It.” She has awards from the Israeli Film Academy.
“The Property” is her debut in feature-length. The story grew out of a graphic novel by her artist sister Rutu Modan, and it took almost 14 years to reach the screen.
How She Shoots
Without slogans and enlargements. It’s important not “what to say,” but “how to listen.” That’s why there are so many pauses and glances — the film trusts the viewer.
Main Creators and Technical Data of the Film “The Property”
- Director: Dana Modan
- Screenwriters: Dana Modan and her sister, artist and author of the original graphic novel, Rutu Modan
- Producers: Yohanan Credo and Guy Yacoe
- Cinematographer: Yaron Scharf
- Editor: Ido Mochrik
- Main Cast: Rivka Michaeli, Sharon Strimban, Uri Hochman, Andrzej Seweryn, and Piotr Pacek
- Original Languages: Hebrew, English, Polish
- Co-producers: Itai Zidon, Zeev Farbman, Yaron Inger, Nir Pochter, Shalom Eisenbach
- Executive Producers: Linor Lavi, Irit Ben-Yehuda Lazar
Awards and Festival Achievements
- Win: Mickie Moore Award for Best Film by a Female Director at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival 2025
- Nominations: The film was nominated in four categories at the Israeli National Film Academy Ophir
- Festival Screenings: Official selection at prestigious venues such as:
- Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (USA)
- Haifa International Film Festival (Israel)
- Vancouver Jewish Film Festival (Canada)
- New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival (USA)
- Boca Raton International Jewish Film Festival (USA)
- Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (USA)
- Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival (USA)
- Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema (USA)
- Israeli Film Festival of Philadelphia (USA)
- Washington Jewish Film Festival (USA)
- Berlin Jewish Film Festival (Germany)
- Northern Nevada Jewish Film Festival (USA)
- Winnipeg International Jewish Film Festival (Canada)
- Sao Paulo Jewish Film Festival (Brazil)
- Dallas Jewish Film Festival (USA)
16th Odessa International Film Festival: Cultural Resilience Under Fire
Historical Path
The Odessa International Film Festival first took place in 2010. Since then, it has become one of Ukraine’s most notable cultural brands. Red carpets, open-air screenings, visits from world film stars — all this was the hallmark of the early years.
Now the format has changed. The war made the usual scale impossible, but the festival did not disappear. In 2025, the 16th OIFF takes place, and for the first time — not in Odessa, but in Kyiv. This is a forced measure for safety, but the symbolism is important: the festival did not give up but was reborn.
Dates and Motto
The festival will take place from September 24 to October 4, 2025. The motto is “Resilience in Our DNA”. These are words that in Ukraine in 2025 sound not like a slogan but like reality: resilience is embedded in everyday life.
Thematic Content
The focus is on four directions:
- War. Cinema becomes a witness while the battles are still ongoing.
- Emigration. Millions of people are moving, and their experience is more important than statistics.
- Family. Even in catastrophe, personal relationships, love, conflicts, and care remain.
- Memory. The Holocaust, repressions, losses — these plots return through generations and help understand today.
Why This Festival Is Important Now
The 16th OIFF is proof that culture does not die even under fire. For Ukraine — a way to show the world its resilience. For Israel — an opportunity to once again discuss the themes of the Holocaust and losses in dialogue with Ukrainian reality.
Festival Themes and Other Films: An Extended Guide
Focus on Poland (Memory, Identity, Cost of Choice)
Key Films
- “The Hourglass Sanatorium” (1973, Poland; directed by Wojciech Jerzy Has) — a surreal walk through a city-time; meeting the past as if it were alive.
- “Fear” (2023, Poland / Germany / Switzerland; directed by Sławomir Fabicki) — two sisters argue with inevitability and learn to love close to death.
- “Imago” (2023, Poland / Netherlands / Czech Republic; directed by Olga Chajdas) — growing up at the end of the 1980s, when the old world is cracking, and the new one is not yet formed.
- “A Year in the Life of a Country” (2024, Poland; directed by Tomasz Wolski) — chronicle of 1981: martial law, absurdity of everyday life, persistence of “Solidarity.”
- “The Property” (2024, Israel / Poland; directed by Dana Modan) — restitution as an attempt to regain a voice.
- “Silent Trees” (2024, Poland / Germany / Denmark; directed by Agnieszka Zwiefka) — a 16-year-old Kurdish heroine grows up on the border; part of the story is in animation.
- “The Forest” (2024, Poland / Czech Republic; directed by Lidia Duda) — family idyll in Białowieża Forest breaks on the refugee crisis.
- “The Assistant” (2025, Poland / UK; directed by Wilhelm and Anka Sasnal) — about the limits of obedience when foreign power extends a hand.
“With a Friendly Eye” (Migration, Search for Home)
What These Films Are About
- “Temporary Shelter” (2024, Iceland; directed by Anastasia Bortuali) — nature is indecently beautiful, but a person still needs a home.
- “Victor” (2024, Denmark / Ukraine / France / USA; directed by Olivier Sarbil) — a deaf guy from Kharkiv wants to defend the country and argues with the system.
- “The Longer You Bleed” (2025, Germany / Ukraine / UK; directed by Ewan Waddell) — Ukrainians in Berlin live the war through screens and irony.
“Family Values: Life” (Connections, Choice, Dignity)
Five Stories
- “Summer in December” (2024, Spain; directed by Carolina Africa) — the anniversary of the father’s death gathers women of the family and old scores.
- “They Will Become Ashes” (2024, Spain / Switzerland / Italy; directed by Carlos Marques-Marcet) — two go the last road together; a film about dignity.
- “After the Party” (2024, Czech Republic; directed by Vojtěch Strakatý) — collectors at the door, growing up on a schedule “for yesterday.”
- “Tell Her I Love Her” (2025, France; directed by Romane Bohringer) — adaptation of a family book, where directing is a way to talk with trauma.
- “Eight” (2025, Spain; directed by Julio Medem) — eight long episodes, ninety years of love.
“Family Values: Children” (Vulnerability, Boundaries, Hope)
Six Observations
- “Lioness” (2024, Estonia / Germany / Latvia; directed by Liina Trishkina-Vanhatalo) — the disappearance of a daughter pushes a mother to the edge of reason.
- “About Luis” (2024, Germany; directed by Lucia Chiarla) — bullying at school and a family learning to speak the truth.
- “Without Instructions” (2024, Spain; directed by Marina Seresesky) — easy life ends with a baby stroller at the doorstep.
- “My Unbreakable” (2024, France; directed by Anne-Sophie Bailly) — a mother and adult son with a disability seek new rules of closeness.
- “After Summer” (2025, Spain; directed by Yolanda Centeno) — stepmother and the fear of losing connection with a child.
- “Lykke After Birth” (2025, Sweden; directed by Alex Landgren, Karen Haugaard) — postpartum depression on a farm where everything was supposed to be simple.
National Documentary Competition (Ukraine)
What These Films Seek
- Testimony of war and attempts to live “despite.”
- Restoration: cities, people, trust.
- Ecology and war: what remains with nature.
- Facets of heroism — quiet and loud.
Column “NAnews — News of Israel”: When Boycott Does Not Silence the Voice of Art
Today, boycott campaigns are getting louder — universities cancel lectures, museums refuse Israeli exhibitions, activists demand the exclusion of the country from the cultural map. We are told this is “solidarity,” but we know: it is about punishing Israel for its right to defend itself.
Israel is waging a just war against Hamas and other terrorists who hide behind children, launch thousands of rockets at our cities, and do everything to erase the very right of Jews to live in their land. At such a moment, it is especially important that culture does not fall silent.
The film “The Property”, shown at the Odessa International Film Festival, will become not just an artistic event. It is an act of solidarity that connects Israel and Ukraine: two peoples who have survived genocide and continue to fight for their future.
And if someone dreams of silencing the Israeli voice with boycotts, it is such premieres that show: memory, art, and truth are stronger than any campaign of hatred.
This is material for the Jewish community in Israel, for those who read NAnews — News of Israel and are used to seeing connections: Israel, Ukraine, diaspora, community, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem. In the middle of the text, it is important to repeat without hesitation: the editorial team is convinced that the news of Israel is not only the front and politics but also culture that returns meaning.
“The Property” is a film about the fact that pain has a name and address. If they are returned, a new life becomes possible. OIFF-2025 does a simple thing: it provides a platform where the past ceases to be silent, and the present — powerless.
FAQ
Why does “The Property” resonate so strongly right now?
Because its theme — the return of a stolen past — coincided with the Ukrainian reality of war and losses.
What is the film briefly about?
About Regina and her granddaughter’s trip to Poland: legally — for property, essentially — for the opportunity to name their love and reconcile with the past.
Who is Dana Modan?
An Israeli screenwriter and actress from Tel Aviv; “The Property” is her debut in feature-length, grown from a graphic novel by her sister Rutu Modan.
What to watch at OIFF-2025 besides “The Property”?
“The Hourglass Sanatorium,” “A Year in the Life of a Country,” “The Forest,” “Temporary Shelter,” “After the Party,” as well as the Ukrainian documentary competition — eight films where the war is named.
