Jerusalem is Proud to Present

Yerushalyim Ge'ah Le'hatzig / Israel 2007 / 82min. Hebrew, English, Arabic, Yiddish with English subtitles.
Director Nitzan Gilady / Producer Galia Bador, Nitzan Gilady

A gay parade in the Holy City? Jerusalem is Proud to Present exposes the underbelly of religion, fanaticism and politics and candidly reveals the vicious struggle of a city torn between tradition and transformation.

In the summer of 2006, for the first time in history, Jerusalem was to host the World Pride events, set to culminate in a traditional gay pride parade. The week long festival stirred turmoil in the politically complex metropolis, with Jewish, Muslim and Christian religious leaders banding together in an uncompromising battle against what they said would “defile the holy city”. “God will punish us if we allow this to happen” says an ultra-orthodox rabbi at a press conference where the three faiths condemned the plans for the march.

On the other side stood the activists of the Open House, Jerusalem’s LGBTQ community centre, who planned the pride events. Steadfast in the face of the heated and violent anti-gay sentiment, they had to deal with threats to much more than just their right to march. The politics which surrounded the organisation of the proposed march were subsequently overshadowed by the ensuing war with Hezbollah which created further obstacles for the march organisers. With every twist and turn, director Nitzan Gilady followed the unfolding of the extraordinary event. Equally eye-opening are the fierce clashes that took place between the liberal and religious councillors which Gilady filmed with surprising access.

Jerusalem is Proud to Present is an explosive and controversial expose of the complex dynamics between religion, politics and human rights.

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