Haifa Cinematheque is considered one of the leading and old art centers in Haifa
Since 1975 Haifa Cinematheque has been operating in the city, educating, promoting, handling and exposing the residents of Haifa and the entire North area to Israeli and international art of cinema.
As the best Cinematheques
Each year Haifa Cinematheque presents about 400 films from Israel and abroad, fiction and documentary, old and new. As customary in Cinematheques, whose role is not only to screen the film but also to education, Haifa Cinematheque holds educational activity among the city school students, giving series and lectures and dozens of special programs. The Cinematheque, located in Carmel Center, attracts many viewers throughout the year, both adults and youngsters, who enjoy watching films in a unique intimate atmosphere, which has become the tradition of Haifa Cinematheque.
Exclusive events of Haifa Cinematheque
In the enriching activity of Haifa Cinematheque you may find several events that have turned over the years into real tradition. The Israeli Opera together with Haifa Cinematheque (as with its corresponding in Tel Aviv) launch each year a series of opera, music and dance productions of the world’s most esteemed theatres, presented on a large screen. Each screening is accompanied by a lecture and a discussion which complete the experience.
An additional activity, which has become a tradition over the years, is “RockCinema”. Since 1990, once a month the Cinematheque dedicates Friday Evening to salute the activity of one band or a certain style in the world of Rock. In the course of the evening video clips and recordings relating to the topic are being shown, accompanied by a mutual discussion of the evening moderators and the audience.
The International Film Festival
In 1983, for the first time in Israel, the International Film Festival was set up in Haifa. Since then and to date the Festival has become a leading and reputable event in the Israeli and International film industry and is considered as a huge attraction source for thousands of film fans in the country and worldwide. Each year the Festival, hosted in the Haifa Cinematheque building and additional cinema halls in the city, attracts about 300 thousand visitors from the city and outside the city, as well as from many countries in the world.
Close to 300 new films are screened during the Festival, which lasts during the Succot Holiday. Furthermore, in addition to the festive screenings, one may enjoy a large variety of events, open to the public, held each festival night, starting with music performances at Gan Ha’em, through outdoor film screening, artists’ fairs and more. In the course of the ten-day Festival hundreds of thousands of people fill the city of Haifa in general and the Carmel Center area in particular. The hotels are packed, as are the city cafes, pubs and restaurants.
Moving about during the Festival days and in general
During the Festival days, reaching Carmel Center and the Haifa Cinematheque by private car is absolutely not recommended, and it is desirable to utilize the convenient public transportation to get there. The Carmelit Gan Ha’em Station, located in Central Carmel offers an easy access to those visiting the area during those days, and in general. The Carmelit stations are located close to the hotels in Carmel Center, and nearby the many attractions in the city such as museums, historical sites, the Bahá’í Gardens, the German Colony and more. During your stay in town on the occasion of the Festival you may enjoy a convenient and quick access to those places and other, with the help of a short ride lasting less than 8 minutes between the Carmelit stations.