It’s one of the most popular – and profitable – genres in film. But before 2010, there were no Israeli horror films.

Then over the last decade distinctly Israeli serial killers, zombies, vampires and ghosts invaded screens amid a blossoming of young local filmmakers. Olga Gershenson follows her previous books on Russian theatre in Israel and the unknown Shoah films of the Soviet Union with New Israeli Horror: Local Cinema, Global Genre. The Professor of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies and of Film Studies at UMass joins us to explore how these films challenge traditional representations of Israel and its people, while also appealing to audiences around the world. In conversation with UK Jewish Film’s Head of Programming, Nir Cohen.

An event from Jewish Book Week 2024