MSU's first ever Israeli Film Festival will take place this Sunday and Monday in room 108 of Bessey Hall.

The event is being hosted by the MSU Jewish Studies Program in collaboration with other programs and departments. The event is open to the public.

The festival will consist of four award-winning films, which all in some way involve Israel or Israeli people. All the films were directed and/or produced by Israelis.

The film "Campfire" will kick off the festival on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The film is not rated and has a running time of 95 minutes. At 3:30 p.m., "Metallic Blues," rated PG and running 90 minutes, will be screened. Both shows are free.

At 6:30 p.m., a special feature film that is currently playing in theaters around the world will be shown. The festival cannot release the name of the film to the public ahead of time. Admission to this film is $5. For more information on the film, contact the event organizers at jewishst@msu.edu.

The festival will wrap up on Monday night at 7 p.m. with the film "Turn Left at the End of the World." The film is rated R and runs 110 minutes. Admission to this film is also free. All the films have English subtitles.

Ellen Rothfeld, lecturer of Hebrew and event organizer, said the films in the festival can be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of interest or past knowledge about Israel.

"I think these films that we've selected are appealing to all kinds of people and to all cultures," she said. "These are films that discuss gender issues, immigration issues, history and memory of the Holocaust, conflict and conflict resolution."

Rothfeld said one of the main purposes of the festival is to show people a different side of Israel from what is normally shown in the news.

"We are intentionally showing films that have very little to do with the Middle Eastern conflict. We want people to learn something about Israel and Israeli culture," she said.