Richard Moore, the first-time artistic director of the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange Israeli Film Festival, is not Jewish. But his wife is, and they lived in Israel for several years. He's also been a producer and director of documentaries, head of arts at ABC TV, and executive director of the Melbourne and Brisbane Film Festivals, among other roles, so he brings to the job a range of relevant experience and perspectives.

One of his aims with this, as with any film festival, was to provide a range of interesting, high-quality films that would provoke discussion among viewers. Most of the feature film screenings are accompanied by a short.

"You've got to be true to yourself and I wanted it to be a reflection of Israel and what's happening now," he says. He watched about 100 films to create the six sections in this year's festival. They are: Blast from the Past – a selection of titles from Israel's cinematic history; Queer Spot – a reflection on the vibrant queer culture in Israel; Questions of Faith – films that probe contemporary issues of faith and interfaith; Culture Corner – covering all things cultural, from theatre to music to poetry to sex, drugs and rock'n'roll; First Course – a selection of Israeli short films in a wide range of styles including animation and horror, and On the Edge – hard-hitting real-life stories that reveal the dark side of life.

While some films weren't easily shoehorned into one of these categories and others could have fit into more than one, it made a useful starting point.

There are too many films in the festival to discuss each one but some highlights can be pointed out. As a former documentary filmmaker, the Canberra-born Moore says he's placed a particular emphasis on documentaries in the festival. This includes the opening-night film, Matti Caspi – Confession (2015).

"It's a biography of Matti Caspi, who was a superstar of Israeli music in the late 1960s and 1970s."

The rock musician's popularity plummeted after what Moore says was "a very public and ugly divorce when he went off with another woman. He moved to the US with his new wife, dabbled in Jehovah's Witnesses and eventually returned to Israel and hosted a children's music TV show.

Almost Friends (2005) is, he says, "a particularly poignant" film, a documentary about two groups of young girls aged about 12 who are brought together as part of an educational program endeavouring to bridge cultural gaps. One is a mix of Arabs, Christians and Jews from a mixed-faith school in Lod, the other is a group of girls from a religious Jewish settlement in Talamim.

Moore says it's important to try to show that there are people attempting to bridge the political and cultural chasms that exist in Israel and that often it's not the younger generation who are the problem but their parents and their assumptions.

It's not all documentaries, though. Marzipan Flowers (2014) is, he says, "a highly stylised adult drama" with "a very imaginative use of film". It's the story of a middle-aged, recently widowed woman who leaves a kibbutz and goes to Tel Aviv where she befriends and moves in with transgender woman Petel. It won best independent film at the 2014 Jerusalem Film Festival.

"It's terrific."

Moore describes Princess (2014) – a film that won four awards at the Jerusalem Film Festival including best film – as "slightly controversial" and it's not hard to see why. It's about 12-year-old Adar, neglected by her workaholic mother, and who is drawn into the fun and games of her stepfather and also attracted to the mysterious, homeless, Alan, who resembles her.

"It's quite beautiful and sensual."

While most of the films are contemporary, as noted, there's also a look at Israel's cinematic past, including Avanti Popolo (1986), a controversial comedy by Rafi Bukaee with two Arab actors playing Egyptian soldiers trying to find their way back to the front line on the Suez Canal after the ceasefire in the 1967 war.

And there's plenty more for audiences to discover for themselves – and to talk about afterwards, which is what Moore hopes will happen.