
The Sea (virtual)
Khaled, a 12-year-old boy from a Palestinian village, gets the chance to see the sea for the first time in his life on a school trip. But when the class reaches a military checkpoint, the soldiers claim Khaled’s permit is invalid and send him back home, while his classmates continue their trip. Deeply disappointed, Khaled sets out to the sea on his own, even though he doesn’t know the way and doesn’t speak Hebrew. When his father, Ribhi, an undocumented laborer working in Israel, learns that his son is missing, he leaves his job in search for him—risking arrest and the loss of his livelihood.
WHY WE LIKE THIS FILM: Winner of 5 Israeli Academy Awards and Israel”s submission to the upcoming 2026 Oscars, this is an excellent drama. But it angered the Israeli culture minister who vowed to pull all government funding from future Israeli Academy Awards. Watch the film and consider for yourself if this ought to be considered a controversial film or not.
BONUS PROGRAMMING: AJFF interview with writer/director Shai Carmelli Pollak
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Virtual event tickes go on sale on Monday, November 10. Virtual events can be watched anytime between November 14 and 23. Festival and Combo pass holders, and AJFF Supporters at all levels do not need tickets to watch virtual events. Simply log on to our watch portal. Note: films are geoblocked to Texas.
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DETAILS
YEAR: 2025
RUN TIME: 93 Minutes
LANGUAGE(S): Arabic, Hebrew
SUBTITLES: English subtitles
PREMIERE STATUS: Southwest premiere
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CREDITS
DIRECTOR(S):Shai Carmeli-Pollak
SCREENWRITER(S):Shai Carmeli-Pollak
CAST:Khalifa Natour, Mohamad Ghazawi, Marlen Bajali, Hilla Surjon
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