Yes
- Friday, May 1, 2026, 7:00pm
Screening location: SIFF Cinema Uptown – 511 Queen Anne Ave N, Seattle
One of international cinema’s most fearless and provocative filmmakers, Nadav Lapid has long been an outspoken critic of his birth country’s government policies, channeling a lifetime of fury and frustration into vital films like SYNONYMS and AHED’S KNEE that brim with righteous anger, spite and shame. In YES, Lapid once again takes vigorous critical aim at the Israeli government with a new approach: submission.
In the days following October 7, Y., a jazz musician, and his wife Yasmin, a dancer, resolve to say yes to everything. Y. and Yasmin sell their bodies and souls to the highest bidder, surrendering themselves and their art to Israel’s social, political and military elite. Soon, Y. is entrusted with a mission of the utmost importance: to compose the music for a rousing, ruthless new national anthem. Feverishly whirling between moments of satire, sincerity and complete submission, YES is a visceral, blistering indictment of modern Israel, and an essential addition to post-October 7 cinema.
Named the third best movie of 2025 by Cahiers du Cinéma. In Hebrew, English, and Russian (with English subtitles).
Critic’s Pick! “[Lapid] almost seems to bait you to look away, to turn off and tune out just like his revelers, even as he inexorably pulls you in.” Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
“A whirling, maximalist satire at once despairing and exuberant, subtle as a cannonball in its evisceration of the ruling classes and those who obey them, it’s both absurdist comedy and serious-as-cancer polemic… it’s exhilaratingly of the moment and in the moment.” Guy Lodge, Variety
“The best film of the year.” Radu Jude