The Israeli Film Festival of Philadelphia (www. iffphila.com) fires up its 15th season with the awardwinning "The Matchmaker," a cinematic shidduch from director Avi Nesher, whose "Turn Left at the End of the World" made all the right turns at Israel's registers, as the biggest box officer winner in Israel history.

"The Matchmaker" opens the festival on Saturday night, Feb. 26, with a matinee the next day

Both screenings are being held at International House.

The next offering, "Precious Life," places a premium on Israeli/Palestinian cooperation to save the life of a Palestinian baby lacking an immune system.

But will the child be immune to the battles between the two groups? Director Shlomi Eldar explores how both Israelis and Palestinians put aside confrontational conditions in a tense race to save the baby's life.

The lone screening for "Precious Life" is scheduled on Feb. 27, also at International House, an appropriate setting for a documentary with international implications.

Next film is next month, March 5, being held at Drexel University's Mitchell Auditorium: Director Dan Wolman's "Gei Oni," an adaptation of Shulamit Lapid's compelling novel, brings to the screen the saga of European immigration to Palestine in the late 1800s, mixed in with a love story amid the sand dunes.

From the West PhUIy campus to the corridor of the Main Line: The Bryn Mawr Film Institute hosts "Lebanon," on March 13.

The "Das Boaf'-style film - shot in a claustrophobic style - deals with an Israeli tank company in the war-torn country of the title.

Three others films are set before the finale, "Voices From El-Sayed," which will be held on April 9, at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy

Butter up that popcorn, the show's about to begin!