Production and distribution giant expands footprint in Israel.
Banijay has expanded its operations in Israel, acquiring a 51 share in MoviePlus Productions.
Drama, feature film and doc producer MoviePlus was established by David Mandil, and is behind the Academy Award-nominated films Footnote and Beaufort; A Tale Of Love And Darkness, in which Natalie Portman made her directorial debut; and Norman by Joseph Cedar, starring Richard Gere, Steve Buscemi, and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
MoviePlus also has a track record in drama series, including Our Boys for HBO and Keshet International, Miguel (Canal+) and Embezzlement for Yes Studios.
As part of Banijay, MoviePlus will...
Banijay has expanded its operations in Israel, acquiring a 51 share in MoviePlus Productions.
Drama, feature film and doc producer MoviePlus was established by David Mandil, and is behind the Academy Award-nominated films Footnote and Beaufort; A Tale Of Love And Darkness, in which Natalie Portman made her directorial debut; and Norman by Joseph Cedar, starring Richard Gere, Steve Buscemi, and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
MoviePlus also has a track record in drama series, including Our Boys for HBO and Keshet International, Miguel (Canal+) and Embezzlement for Yes Studios.
As part of Banijay, MoviePlus will...
- 11/9/2022
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
“Incitement” was the best-picture winner at Israel’s Ophir Awards on Sunday night, automatically becoming the country’s choice to vie for the international feature film Oscar.
The winning film, a drama about the period leading up to the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a Jewish extremist in 1995, had its global premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month. The movie was directed by Yaron Zilberman and co-written by Zilberman and Ron Leshem, creator of the original Israeli TV series “Euphoria” and the Oscar-nominated “Beaufort.”
Zilberman’s acceptance speech for the best-picture prize was one of the few overtly political moments of the night, coming days after an inconclusive national election in Israel.
“Rabin was a giant of a man who was murdered because of his struggle to bring peace,” said Zilberman. In a jab at Benjamin Netanyahu, who is fighting to remain prime minister,...
The winning film, a drama about the period leading up to the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a Jewish extremist in 1995, had its global premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month. The movie was directed by Yaron Zilberman and co-written by Zilberman and Ron Leshem, creator of the original Israeli TV series “Euphoria” and the Oscar-nominated “Beaufort.”
Zilberman’s acceptance speech for the best-picture prize was one of the few overtly political moments of the night, coming days after an inconclusive national election in Israel.
“Rabin was a giant of a man who was murdered because of his struggle to bring peace,” said Zilberman. In a jab at Benjamin Netanyahu, who is fighting to remain prime minister,...
- 9/22/2019
- by Amy Spiro
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Production is under way on Israel’s biggest-budget TV drama series, Valley Of Tears, we can reveal.
The ambitious, under-the-radar project set against the 1973 Yom Kippur War, stars Israeli mega-star Lior Ashkenazi (Foxtrot) and comes from in-demand Israeli writers Ron Leshem (Euphoria) and Amit Cohen (False Flag).
Directed and co-created by Yaron Zilberman (A Late Quartet), and based on true events, the Hebrew-language, eight-part miniseries shepherded by WestEnd Films depicts the 1973 Yom Kippur War through the eyes of young combatants. It will follow the stories of three individuals swept away by the ravages of war, and culminates in a climactic battle. We understand each episode will cost in the region of $1M.
Valley of Tears stars Footnote and Big Bad Wolves actor Ashkenazi, Aviv Alush (The Shack), Lee Biran, Shahar Tavoch, Joy Rieger and Ofer Hayoun (Euphoria). A handful of Israel’s most prominent novelists reportedly took part in...
The ambitious, under-the-radar project set against the 1973 Yom Kippur War, stars Israeli mega-star Lior Ashkenazi (Foxtrot) and comes from in-demand Israeli writers Ron Leshem (Euphoria) and Amit Cohen (False Flag).
Directed and co-created by Yaron Zilberman (A Late Quartet), and based on true events, the Hebrew-language, eight-part miniseries shepherded by WestEnd Films depicts the 1973 Yom Kippur War through the eyes of young combatants. It will follow the stories of three individuals swept away by the ravages of war, and culminates in a climactic battle. We understand each episode will cost in the region of $1M.
Valley of Tears stars Footnote and Big Bad Wolves actor Ashkenazi, Aviv Alush (The Shack), Lee Biran, Shahar Tavoch, Joy Rieger and Ofer Hayoun (Euphoria). A handful of Israel’s most prominent novelists reportedly took part in...
- 7/25/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Israeli writer-producers Ron Leshem and Amit Cohen have signed with Anonymous Content, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.
Leshem created the Israeli drama Euphoria and is an executive producer on HBO's buzzy English-language adaptation, starring Zendaya. With Cohen, he wrote and created Israel's The Gordin Cell, which was adapted into the NBC series Allegiance, and the two recently wrote the Syrian Civil War drama Fertile Crescent, which Hulu ordered straight to series. The European co-production from Fremantle will star James Purefoy and is set to begin production this summer.
Separately, Leshem is the author of the war novel Beaufort and penned the screenplay to ...
Leshem created the Israeli drama Euphoria and is an executive producer on HBO's buzzy English-language adaptation, starring Zendaya. With Cohen, he wrote and created Israel's The Gordin Cell, which was adapted into the NBC series Allegiance, and the two recently wrote the Syrian Civil War drama Fertile Crescent, which Hulu ordered straight to series. The European co-production from Fremantle will star James Purefoy and is set to begin production this summer.
Separately, Leshem is the author of the war novel Beaufort and penned the screenplay to ...
- 6/26/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
David Mandil’s MoviePlus Productions, the Israeli banner which is presenting ”Miguel” at Canneseries Festival, is developing “The Silent Fighters,” a documentary feature about a classified military unit, and “Duduland” (working title), a drama series about the true story of disgraced Israeli TV star Dudu Topaz.
“Duduland,” which has been commissioned by Hot, will chronicle the epic downfall of Dudu Topaz, one of Israel’s biggest TV stars who embarked on a mission to bring down industry figures he held responsible for his fall from grace. He was eventually apprehended by the police and sent to prison, where he committed suicide.
The 8 one-hour episodes will be written and directed by Assaf Harel, a well-established screenwriter who won two Israeli Television Academy Awards for “Parliament,” a half-hour comedy series about five elderly men living in Israel, and wrote “Loaded” (“Mesudarim”), a hit comedy-drama series about four friends who sell their start-up...
“Duduland,” which has been commissioned by Hot, will chronicle the epic downfall of Dudu Topaz, one of Israel’s biggest TV stars who embarked on a mission to bring down industry figures he held responsible for his fall from grace. He was eventually apprehended by the police and sent to prison, where he committed suicide.
The 8 one-hour episodes will be written and directed by Assaf Harel, a well-established screenwriter who won two Israeli Television Academy Awards for “Parliament,” a half-hour comedy series about five elderly men living in Israel, and wrote “Loaded” (“Mesudarim”), a hit comedy-drama series about four friends who sell their start-up...
- 4/8/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The slow specialty box office is picking up. “The Lost City of Z” (Bleecker Street) opened just below the numbers posted last week by “Colossal” (Neon) and “Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer” (Sony Pictures Classics) also opened to over $20,000. And “Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary” (Abramorama) showed strong initial single-theater results, with Emily Dickinson story “A Quiet Passion” (Music Box) also showing some interest.
After a promising start, “Colossal” expanded quickly, showing strength among wider audiences, along with “Gifted” (Fox Searchlight) and “Their Finest” (Stx). And holocaust drama “The Zookeeper’s Wife” (Focus) passed the $10 million mark in only its third weekend.
Festival favorite “Maudie,” a Canadian-Irish coproduction set in a small Nova Scotia town, opened in four Canadian theaters ahead of its June stateside release from Sony Classics Pictures, with a three day total of around $60,000. It stars Sally Hawkins and...
After a promising start, “Colossal” expanded quickly, showing strength among wider audiences, along with “Gifted” (Fox Searchlight) and “Their Finest” (Stx). And holocaust drama “The Zookeeper’s Wife” (Focus) passed the $10 million mark in only its third weekend.
Festival favorite “Maudie,” a Canadian-Irish coproduction set in a small Nova Scotia town, opened in four Canadian theaters ahead of its June stateside release from Sony Classics Pictures, with a three day total of around $60,000. It stars Sally Hawkins and...
- 4/16/2017
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
In the new film “Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer,” Norman Oppenheimer (Richard Gere) will do anything to feel like he matters. A lonely man on the margins of New York City power and money, Norman dreams up financial schemes and tries to bring them to life by incessantly networking. Then one day, he buys an Israeli politician an expensive pair of shoes and soon he’s flush with respect and caught in the crossfires of a potential international catastrophe. The film co-stars Lior Ashkenazi (“Late Marriage”), Michael Sheen (“Frost/Nixon”), Steve Buscemi (“Mystery Train”), Dan Stevens (“Downton Abbey”), Hank Azaria (“The Simpsons”) and more. Watch a teaser trailer below.
Read More: ‘Norman’ Finds Richard Gere in a Coen-Like Comedy With More Chutzpah Than Charm — Telluride Review
The film is written and directed by Joseph Cedar. He wrote and directed the 2011 film “Footnote,” which...
Read More: ‘Norman’ Finds Richard Gere in a Coen-Like Comedy With More Chutzpah Than Charm — Telluride Review
The film is written and directed by Joseph Cedar. He wrote and directed the 2011 film “Footnote,” which...
- 12/16/2016
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
Considering the sheer number of films that come to fall festivals, some can fall between the cracks — especially if they aren’t getting released in the next few months. One such example is Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer, which comes from director Joseph Cedar (Footnote, Beaufort), and premiered at Telluride then stopped by Toronto. With Sony Pictures Classics picking it up for a release this spring, it’s now back on our radar thanks to the arrival of the first trailer.
Led by Richard Gere, the story follows his pushy character as he gets entangled in various business schemes in New York City — quite a different role from his previous film set in the city, Time Out of Mind. Check out the trailer below for the film also starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Josh Charles, Michael Sheen, Lior Ashkenazi, Dan Stevens, Steve Buscemi and Hank Azaria.
Led by Richard Gere, the story follows his pushy character as he gets entangled in various business schemes in New York City — quite a different role from his previous film set in the city, Time Out of Mind. Check out the trailer below for the film also starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Josh Charles, Michael Sheen, Lior Ashkenazi, Dan Stevens, Steve Buscemi and Hank Azaria.
- 12/15/2016
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
HBO has given a 10-episode series order to a drama about the tragic events involving the disappearance of three teens that unfolded in Israel two years ago. Created by The Affair and In Treatment co-creator Hagai Levi and Noah Stollman, the untitled series, a co-production between HBO and Keshet International’s Keshet Studios, will be filmed on location in Israel next summer and will primarily be directed by award-winning Israeli filmmaker Joseph Cedar (Beaufort…...
- 10/5/2016
- Deadline TV
Exclusive: Richard Gere to star in Oren Moverman-produced drama.
The Solution has boarded sales on two-time Oscar nominee Joseph Cedar’s English-language debut Oppenheimer Strategies.
Richard Gere is attached to star in the drama, also written by Cedar, which will be produced by The Messenger director Oren Moverman and The Messenger producer Lawrence Inglee alongside Eyal Rimmon and Gideon Tadmor.
Gere will play eponymous businessman Norman Oppenheimer who - on the verge of vanishing into obscurity - charms a rising Israeli politician Micha Esher who ascends to prime minister three years later.
Once elevated into his inner circle, however, Oppenheimer is faced with tough decisions when the state of world politics is threatened.
Additional casting is underway, with Lior Ashkenazi understood to be on board to play the role of the Israeli prime minister.
The film is due to shoot in New York and Israel from January 2015.
ICM is handling Us rights.
Cedar’s 2011 comedy-drama...
The Solution has boarded sales on two-time Oscar nominee Joseph Cedar’s English-language debut Oppenheimer Strategies.
Richard Gere is attached to star in the drama, also written by Cedar, which will be produced by The Messenger director Oren Moverman and The Messenger producer Lawrence Inglee alongside Eyal Rimmon and Gideon Tadmor.
Gere will play eponymous businessman Norman Oppenheimer who - on the verge of vanishing into obscurity - charms a rising Israeli politician Micha Esher who ascends to prime minister three years later.
Once elevated into his inner circle, however, Oppenheimer is faced with tough decisions when the state of world politics is threatened.
Additional casting is underway, with Lior Ashkenazi understood to be on board to play the role of the Israeli prime minister.
The film is due to shoot in New York and Israel from January 2015.
ICM is handling Us rights.
Cedar’s 2011 comedy-drama...
- 11/6/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Doctor Who
Michelle Gomez ("Bad Education," "The Acid House") has joined the cast of "Doctor Who". The actress plays a character known as the Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere.
A photo from the set has been released showcasing Gomez in Victorian-era costume with The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and the Cybermen. You can see that photo below. [Source: BBC1]
Crater Lake
Atlantique Productions ("Transporter: The Series," "Borgia") will team with Keshet UK to develop the eight-part drama series "Crater Lake".
The series is described as a "life-affirming, character-driven show about death". "Beaufort" novelist and "Allegiance" producer Ron Leshem created the series. [Source: Deadline]
Zapped
Families tuned in to the Disney Channel on Friday night where the network's original telemovie "Zapped" and the premiere of comedy series "Girl Meets World" both drew big ratings.
"Zapped" nabbed 5.7 million viewers, whilst "Girl Meets World" drew 5.2 million viewers. They ranked as the No. 1 cable TV telecast of 2014 and the No.
Michelle Gomez ("Bad Education," "The Acid House") has joined the cast of "Doctor Who". The actress plays a character known as the Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere.
A photo from the set has been released showcasing Gomez in Victorian-era costume with The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and the Cybermen. You can see that photo below. [Source: BBC1]
Crater Lake
Atlantique Productions ("Transporter: The Series," "Borgia") will team with Keshet UK to develop the eight-part drama series "Crater Lake".
The series is described as a "life-affirming, character-driven show about death". "Beaufort" novelist and "Allegiance" producer Ron Leshem created the series. [Source: Deadline]
Zapped
Families tuned in to the Disney Channel on Friday night where the network's original telemovie "Zapped" and the premiere of comedy series "Girl Meets World" both drew big ratings.
"Zapped" nabbed 5.7 million viewers, whilst "Girl Meets World" drew 5.2 million viewers. They ranked as the No. 1 cable TV telecast of 2014 and the No.
- 6/30/2014
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Exclusive: Camera d’Or winner’s second film produced by Movie Plus, United King.
UK outfit WestEnd Films has boarded sales on Camera d’Or winner Shira Geffen’s (Jellyfish) sophomore feature Self Made, which is due to be completed in time for Cannes.
The under-the-radar drama, produced by David Mandil’s Movie Plus (Beaufort) and Moshe Edery and Leon Edery of United King (Lemon Tree), shot in Israel last summer and stars Jellyfish lead Sarah Adler alongside newcomer Samira Saraya. Waltz With Bashir editor Nili Feller is also on board.
Shot in Hebrew and Arabic, writer-director Geffen’s film follows two women - one Palestinian and one Israeli - who after a mix up at a checkpoint find themselves living the life of the other on the opposite side of the Israel-Palestine border.
Self Made reunites the production and sales team behind Oscar-nominated 2011 drama Footnote, which was picked up by Spc for the Us.
WestEnd will be...
UK outfit WestEnd Films has boarded sales on Camera d’Or winner Shira Geffen’s (Jellyfish) sophomore feature Self Made, which is due to be completed in time for Cannes.
The under-the-radar drama, produced by David Mandil’s Movie Plus (Beaufort) and Moshe Edery and Leon Edery of United King (Lemon Tree), shot in Israel last summer and stars Jellyfish lead Sarah Adler alongside newcomer Samira Saraya. Waltz With Bashir editor Nili Feller is also on board.
Shot in Hebrew and Arabic, writer-director Geffen’s film follows two women - one Palestinian and one Israeli - who after a mix up at a checkpoint find themselves living the life of the other on the opposite side of the Israel-Palestine border.
Self Made reunites the production and sales team behind Oscar-nominated 2011 drama Footnote, which was picked up by Spc for the Us.
WestEnd will be...
- 2/8/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
There is a matter of respect to be paid to Israeli cinema for choosing to make films that frequently veer away from established Jewish stereotypes while assembling complex portraits of people and society. Joseph Cedar’s Footnote is the director’s first film since 2007’s Beaufort, which was the first Israeli film to be nominated for a Best Foreign Language Oscar in twenty four eyes. Cedar comes across as an intensely compelling filmmaker, an observant man who chooses not to be labeled as Orthodox, and one capable of telling stories that are hardly myopic but instead psychological and social canvases open to interpretation. With Footnote, Cedar presents an accomplished portrait of a father-son relationship mired in past offenses. He also makes a film ostensibly about two philologists (philology is the study of language in written historical sources, thank you Wikipedia) striving for the highest recognition both tragic and funny.
Read more.
Read more.
- 8/18/2012
- by Mark Zhuravsky
- JustPressPlay.net
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences brings you the Oscars (yep, that's why they're called Academy Awards), and on Friday, the organization announced that it was prepared to invite 176 new folks to its fold.
In a list posted on its website, the Academy deemed Matthew McConaughey, Jean Dujardin, Terrence Malick, Jonah Hill, Berenice Bejo, Jessica Chastain, Octavia Spencer and a host of other film luminaries worthy of inclusion in its nearly 6,000-member army.
The Academy has drawn the ire of critics who bemoan its overwhelmingly male, white population. A Los Angeles Times investigation found that of all Academy members, 94 percent are Caucasian and 77 percent are male. A mere 2 percent are black, with Latinos constituting an even smaller portion. Only 14 percent of members are under the age of 50.
Full members of the Academy select and vote on Oscars nominees. The organization was started in 1927 and is now governed by a 43-person board.
In a list posted on its website, the Academy deemed Matthew McConaughey, Jean Dujardin, Terrence Malick, Jonah Hill, Berenice Bejo, Jessica Chastain, Octavia Spencer and a host of other film luminaries worthy of inclusion in its nearly 6,000-member army.
The Academy has drawn the ire of critics who bemoan its overwhelmingly male, white population. A Los Angeles Times investigation found that of all Academy members, 94 percent are Caucasian and 77 percent are male. A mere 2 percent are black, with Latinos constituting an even smaller portion. Only 14 percent of members are under the age of 50.
Full members of the Academy select and vote on Oscars nominees. The organization was started in 1927 and is now governed by a 43-person board.
- 6/29/2012
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences extended their 2012 membership invitations today to 176 lucky actors, directors, cinematographers, and other members of the filmmaking industry.
Terrence Malick, who somehow wasn’t already a member, received an invitation, as did fellow directors Rodrigo Garcia and Asghar Farhadi.
For actors, Melissa McCarthy’s invitation continues her incredible post-Bridesmaids rise. In addition, actors Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, Andy Serkis, Jessica Chastain, and Octavia Spencer were all invited to be members, among others.
Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003, according to the Academy’s website.
Terrence Malick, who somehow wasn’t already a member, received an invitation, as did fellow directors Rodrigo Garcia and Asghar Farhadi.
For actors, Melissa McCarthy’s invitation continues her incredible post-Bridesmaids rise. In addition, actors Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, Andy Serkis, Jessica Chastain, and Octavia Spencer were all invited to be members, among others.
Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003, according to the Academy’s website.
- 6/29/2012
- by Erin Strecker
- EW - Inside Movies
HollywoodNews.com: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 176 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitation will be the only additions in 2012 to the Academy’s roster of members.
“These film professionals represent some of the most talented, most passionate contributors to our industry,” said Academy President Tom Sherak. “I’m glad to recognize that by calling each of them a fellow Academy member.”
Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003.
The 2012 invitees are:
Actors
Simon Baker – “Margin Call,” “L.A. Confidential”
Sean Bean – “Flightplan,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”
Bérénice Bejo – “The Artist,” “Oss 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies”
Tom Berenger – “Inception,” “Platoon”
Demián Bichir – “A Better Life,” “Che”
Jessica Chastain – “The Help,” “The Tree of Life”
Clifton Collins,...
“These film professionals represent some of the most talented, most passionate contributors to our industry,” said Academy President Tom Sherak. “I’m glad to recognize that by calling each of them a fellow Academy member.”
Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003.
The 2012 invitees are:
Actors
Simon Baker – “Margin Call,” “L.A. Confidential”
Sean Bean – “Flightplan,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”
Bérénice Bejo – “The Artist,” “Oss 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies”
Tom Berenger – “Inception,” “Platoon”
Demián Bichir – “A Better Life,” “Che”
Jessica Chastain – “The Help,” “The Tree of Life”
Clifton Collins,...
- 6/29/2012
- by Josh Abraham
- Hollywoodnews.com
Film: Footnote (2011) Cast includes: Lior Ashkenazi (Walk on Water), Shlomo Bar-Abe (Witness in the War Zone) Writer/Director: Joseph Cedar (Beaufort) Genre: Comedy | Drama | Satire (103 minutes) Hebrew with subtitles It's the "most difficult day in Professor Eliezer Shkolnik's life." Today his son, Professor Uriel Shkolnik, is being inducted into Israel's National Academy. It's obviously a family of academic over-achievers, who inhabit a world of scholars, measuring their self-worth by the academic organizations they've been invited to join, the prizes they've won and the scholarly works they've published. So why is it such a difficult day for Eliezer Shkolnik? Well, "there are a few things worth knowing about Shkolnik (father)." On the brink of publishing the findings of 30 years worth of Talmudic research, his efforts were undermined and rendered worthless by that scoundrel, Grossman. Today, all Shkolnik (father) can boast is an obscure footnote citing him in someone else's research paper.
- 3/13/2012
- by Leslie Sisman
- Moviefone
One of five nominees for this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, “Footnote” comes from award-winning writer-director Joseph Cedar, who at only 43 years of age, has already established an enviable track record with his work. The Israeli auteur’s latest creation -- which swept this year’s Ofirs (Israel’s Oscars) and garnered the Best Screenplay award at Cannes -- marks his second Oscar nomination, along with 2007’s “Beaufort.” The Playlist spoke with Mr. Cedar shortly before 2012’s Oscar nominees were announced.
“Footnote” centers around a father-and-son pair of Talmudic scholars who, to put it plainly, do not get along. The father, Eliezer Shkolnik, is embittered over what he perceives to be a lack of recognition for his decades of devoted and painstaking research, while his middle-aged son, Uriel, enjoys celebrity and awards among their scholarly circle. In the film’s pivotal development, Eliezer believes he’s...
“Footnote” centers around a father-and-son pair of Talmudic scholars who, to put it plainly, do not get along. The father, Eliezer Shkolnik, is embittered over what he perceives to be a lack of recognition for his decades of devoted and painstaking research, while his middle-aged son, Uriel, enjoys celebrity and awards among their scholarly circle. In the film’s pivotal development, Eliezer believes he’s...
- 3/9/2012
- by Thomas Dodson
- The Playlist
Each week within this column we strive to pair the latest in theatrical releases to worthwhile titles currently available on Netflix Instant Watch. This week we offer alternatives to John Carter, Friends With Kids and Footnote.
Friday theaters will determine the fate of Disney’s big budget epic John Carter, which faces off against the closest thing to a Bridesmaids sequel your likely to see and an Oscar contender that transcends the language barrier. But if these offerings pique your desire for adventure, rated-r romance and heralded Hebrew features, then we’ve got you covered with some of the best titles Now Streaming.
Director Andrew Stanton makes his live-action debut with this this Mars-set adventure about a Civil War veteran (Taylor Kitsch) who finds he has extraordinary powers on this extraterrestrial terrain that enables him to be a hero to a beautiful alien princess (Lynn Collins). Willem Dafoe co-stars.
More...
Friday theaters will determine the fate of Disney’s big budget epic John Carter, which faces off against the closest thing to a Bridesmaids sequel your likely to see and an Oscar contender that transcends the language barrier. But if these offerings pique your desire for adventure, rated-r romance and heralded Hebrew features, then we’ve got you covered with some of the best titles Now Streaming.
Director Andrew Stanton makes his live-action debut with this this Mars-set adventure about a Civil War veteran (Taylor Kitsch) who finds he has extraordinary powers on this extraterrestrial terrain that enables him to be a hero to a beautiful alien princess (Lynn Collins). Willem Dafoe co-stars.
More...
- 3/8/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Indiewire got to speak with all the 2012 Best Foreign Language Feature Film Academy Award nominees over the last year; get to know the filmmakers and their films by checking out our profiles below, ahead of this Sunday's awards ceremony. Joseph Cedar, "Footnote" Israeli writer-director Joseph Cedar, Oscar-nominated for his tense war movie "Beaufort," will be back at the Kodak Theater this Sunday for "Footnote." Not bad for a filmmaker with only four features to his name. "Footnote" concerns a father and his grown son, both professors, who work in Talmudic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The father, Eliezer (Shlomo Bar-Aba), is a stubborn purist, while his son Uriel (Lior Ashkenazi) is anything but. Despite Eliezer's seniority, Uriel is more popular among academics and students. So imagine the surprise when it's announced that Eliezer will receive the Israel Prize, the most valuable honor for scholarship...
- 2/23/2012
- by Indiewire Staff
- Indiewire
Israeli writer-director Joseph Cedar, Oscar-nominated for his tense war movie "Beaufort," will be back at the Kodak Theater this Sunday for "Footnote." Not bad for a filmmaker with only four features to his name. "Footnote" concerns a father and his grown son, both professors, who work in Talmudic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The father, Eliezer (Shlomo Bar-Aba), is a stubborn purist, while his son Uriel (Lior Ashkenazi) is anything but. Despite Eliezer's seniority, Uriel is more popular among academics and students. So imagine the surprise when it's announced that Eliezer will receive the Israel Prize, the most valuable honor for scholarship in the country, over his more successful son. But as it turns out, everything is not as it seems. As Eric Kohn wrote in his review out of Cannes, where the film world premiered earlier this year, "Its focus on stuck-up academics makes 'Footnote' an enjoyable,...
- 2/22/2012
- by Nigel M Smith
- Indiewire
Joseph Cedar’s ‘Footnote’ Trailer – Israel’s Foreign Oscar Contender & Cannes Best Screenplay Winner
For many reasons, one of the categories hardest to predict at the Academy Awards is the Best Foreign Film. The pool is huge (currently at 63 films) and not only do these films rarely get a release in the Us, let alone anything wider than a few theaters. Couple that with the fact that most films don’t actually hit those few theaters until after the Oscars air, and this leaves the category to mostly a big guess. So, in an effort to make our readers aware of potential candidates, I like to highlight any trailers that come our way.
Today we have the debut Us trailer for Israel’s foreign Oscar entry. From director Joseph Cedar, whose war story Beaufort was one of 2008′s five best foreign film nominations, Footnote won the best screenplay and nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year. The scholarly battle story of wits seems a bit dry,...
Today we have the debut Us trailer for Israel’s foreign Oscar entry. From director Joseph Cedar, whose war story Beaufort was one of 2008′s five best foreign film nominations, Footnote won the best screenplay and nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year. The scholarly battle story of wits seems a bit dry,...
- 11/15/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Tale of father-son rivalries within the Israeli academic establishment.
Joseph Cedar's previous feature Beaufort used the true story of an Israel Defence Forces-occupied fortress in Lebanon to allegorise the bunker mentality of the beleaguered Israeli state and this follow-up both expands and domesticates that film's themes. As in Beaufort, a fortress will play a pivotal role in the plot – and even if this time round the fortress is merely metaphorical, it proves as capable as any concrete structure of entrapping and destroying its blinkered...
Joseph Cedar's previous feature Beaufort used the true story of an Israel Defence Forces-occupied fortress in Lebanon to allegorise the bunker mentality of the beleaguered Israeli state and this follow-up both expands and domesticates that film's themes. As in Beaufort, a fortress will play a pivotal role in the plot – and even if this time round the fortress is merely metaphorical, it proves as capable as any concrete structure of entrapping and destroying its blinkered...
- 10/22/2011
- by Anton Bitel
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Get a head start on the 49th New York Film Festival (it kicks off today) by checking out reviews of some of the big films playing at the event and interviews with some of this year's talent. The 49th New York Film Festival runs through October 16. Go here for the full lineup. Reviews "Footnote" Israeli writer-director Joseph Cedar’s last feature, the Oscar-nominated “Beaufort,” was a tense war movie about ...
- 9/30/2011
- Indiewire
Get a head start on the 49th New York Film Festival (it kicks off today) by checking out reviews of some of the big films playing at the event and interviews with some of this year's talent. The 49th New York Film Festival runs through October 16. Go here for the full lineup. Reviews "Footnote" Israeli writer-director Joseph Cedar’s last feature, the Oscar-nominated “Beaufort,” was a tense war movie about ...
- 9/30/2011
- indieWIRE - People
Get a head start on the 49th New York Film Festival (it kicks off today) by checking out reviews of some of the big films playing at the event and interviews with some of this year's talent. The 49th New York Film Festival runs through October 16. Go here for the full lineup. Reviews "Footnote" Israeli writer-director Joseph Cedar’s last feature, the Oscar-nominated “Beaufort,” was a tense war movie about ...
- 9/30/2011
- indieWIRE - People
Two more countries, neither of which have ever won the Foreign Film Prize in Hollywood, have announced their finalists lists.
We'll take Norway first since it's less popular with Oscar (5 nominations) and because I stand humbly before you to say I was wrong. My conjecture about what might be submitted -- other than the new Joachim Trier -- was quite wobbly. The three finalists are not the biggies from the Amanda awards but Joachim Trier’s Oslo, August 31st (Oslo, 31. august) which we briefly discussed, Anne Sewitsky’s Happy, Happy (Sykt lykkelig) and Jens Lien’s Sons of Norway (Sønner av Norge). While Trier has the highest international profile, that doesn't always equate with submission choice. Happy Happy is a very frisky marital comedy (I ♥ the trailer) and Sons of Norway is a punk rock coming of age film that even features a cameo from Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten. Neither...
We'll take Norway first since it's less popular with Oscar (5 nominations) and because I stand humbly before you to say I was wrong. My conjecture about what might be submitted -- other than the new Joachim Trier -- was quite wobbly. The three finalists are not the biggies from the Amanda awards but Joachim Trier’s Oslo, August 31st (Oslo, 31. august) which we briefly discussed, Anne Sewitsky’s Happy, Happy (Sykt lykkelig) and Jens Lien’s Sons of Norway (Sønner av Norge). While Trier has the highest international profile, that doesn't always equate with submission choice. Happy Happy is a very frisky marital comedy (I ♥ the trailer) and Sons of Norway is a punk rock coming of age film that even features a cameo from Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten. Neither...
- 8/16/2011
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
It's been a vintage year on the Croisette, with superb films and lashings of controversy
Resurgent Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein called it "one of the best festivals in the history of Cannes". Harvey would say that – he nabbed the rights to the best film, in the transplendent form of a silent movie called The Artist.
But in terms of quality, controversy, debate and infinite variety, this has indeed been a vintage Cannes and of all the ones to miss, Lars von Trier picked the wrong one. The Danish director was thrown out of the festival for dim comments made about Hitler at the press conference after his film Melancholia, although the film itself bizarrely remains in with a chance of prizes tonight, with its star Kirsten Dunst having particularly impressed Robert De Niro and his jury, I hear.
Melancholia itself would have been talking point enough without Von Trier's prattling.
Resurgent Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein called it "one of the best festivals in the history of Cannes". Harvey would say that – he nabbed the rights to the best film, in the transplendent form of a silent movie called The Artist.
But in terms of quality, controversy, debate and infinite variety, this has indeed been a vintage Cannes and of all the ones to miss, Lars von Trier picked the wrong one. The Danish director was thrown out of the festival for dim comments made about Hitler at the press conference after his film Melancholia, although the film itself bizarrely remains in with a chance of prizes tonight, with its star Kirsten Dunst having particularly impressed Robert De Niro and his jury, I hear.
Melancholia itself would have been talking point enough without Von Trier's prattling.
- 5/21/2011
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
In our second Cannes film festival Film Weekly podcast special, Melancholia actor Stellan Skarsgard defends his collaborator, director Lars von Trier, who was banned from the festival due to his press conference jokes relating to nazism.
We also meet the star of one of the festival favourites. Bérénice Bejo stars as Peppy Miller in the black and white silent film The Artist which could take the Palm d'Or yet.
Guardian critic Xan Brooks and film writer Agnès Poirier join Jason to round up the festival so far and take a punt on which films will take the top prizes at this Sunday's award ceremony.
Finally, Jason meets Israeli director Joseph Cedar to discuss his competition film, Footnote. Cedar was Oscar nominated in 2007 for his war drama Beaufort but Footnote sees the director exchange pyrotechnics for pedantry in a novel comedy about rivalry among Talmud scholars.
Jason SolomonsJason PhippsXan BrooksAgnès Poirier...
We also meet the star of one of the festival favourites. Bérénice Bejo stars as Peppy Miller in the black and white silent film The Artist which could take the Palm d'Or yet.
Guardian critic Xan Brooks and film writer Agnès Poirier join Jason to round up the festival so far and take a punt on which films will take the top prizes at this Sunday's award ceremony.
Finally, Jason meets Israeli director Joseph Cedar to discuss his competition film, Footnote. Cedar was Oscar nominated in 2007 for his war drama Beaufort but Footnote sees the director exchange pyrotechnics for pedantry in a novel comedy about rivalry among Talmud scholars.
Jason SolomonsJason PhippsXan BrooksAgnès Poirier...
- 5/20/2011
- by Jason Solomons, Jason Phipps, Xan Brooks, Agnès Poirier
- The Guardian - Film News
Updated through 5/17.
"An intriguing tale of an ethical dilemma complicated by academic rivalries and family tensions is told in erratic fashion in Footnote," begins Todd McCarthy in the Hollywood Reporter. "In his fourth feature, New York-born-and-trained Israeli writer-director Joseph Cedar arrestingly tackles what feels like deeply felt personal material, a simmering intellectual and emotional feud between a comparably brilliant father and son, but makes several crucial miscalculations, beginning with the use of one of the most intrusive and overbearing musical scores in memory."
"Eliezer Shkolnik [Shlomo Bar-Aba], a curmudgeonly professor, and his son Uziel [Lior Ashkenazi] are both well-known Talmudic scholars and researchers," explains Barbara Scharres, blogging for the Chicago Sun-Times. "Uziel, however, reaps awards and honors galore, while his jealous father has suffered a career of being overlooked. Uziel wins a major academic award in their mutual field, but through the mistake of an office assistant, Eliezer is informed that he is the winner.
"An intriguing tale of an ethical dilemma complicated by academic rivalries and family tensions is told in erratic fashion in Footnote," begins Todd McCarthy in the Hollywood Reporter. "In his fourth feature, New York-born-and-trained Israeli writer-director Joseph Cedar arrestingly tackles what feels like deeply felt personal material, a simmering intellectual and emotional feud between a comparably brilliant father and son, but makes several crucial miscalculations, beginning with the use of one of the most intrusive and overbearing musical scores in memory."
"Eliezer Shkolnik [Shlomo Bar-Aba], a curmudgeonly professor, and his son Uziel [Lior Ashkenazi] are both well-known Talmudic scholars and researchers," explains Barbara Scharres, blogging for the Chicago Sun-Times. "Uziel, however, reaps awards and honors galore, while his jealous father has suffered a career of being overlooked. Uziel wins a major academic award in their mutual field, but through the mistake of an office assistant, Eliezer is informed that he is the winner.
- 5/17/2011
- MUBI
Robert (author of Distant Relatives) here. It feels like the dog days of Cannes. Film reactions keep coming in and while they seem endlessly mixed or average it's always helpful to remember that when most of these films make their way to the states (in what could be a week or a year... or two years... or never) many of them will be greeted by accolades and Rotten Tomato scores upwards of 80%.
Let's start with the gems. Alex has already clued you in on the success of The Artist. There was one other big hit this weekend. The Dardenne Brothers at this point could direct a Sham-Wow infomercial and it would be accepted to Cannes. But there's a reason why. The Kid With a Bike is being received as one more of many high points in their career. Are the Dardennes in the running for their third Palme? [Rotten Tomatoes page]
Footnote by Israeli director Joseph Cedar,...
Let's start with the gems. Alex has already clued you in on the success of The Artist. There was one other big hit this weekend. The Dardenne Brothers at this point could direct a Sham-Wow infomercial and it would be accepted to Cannes. But there's a reason why. The Kid With a Bike is being received as one more of many high points in their career. Are the Dardennes in the running for their third Palme? [Rotten Tomatoes page]
Footnote by Israeli director Joseph Cedar,...
- 5/16/2011
- by Robert
- FilmExperience
With their first feature Insidious being a massive hit, the newly formed FilmDistrict is currently on a pick-up frenzy during the chaotic Cannes Film Festival. Their upcoming thriller, Nicolas Winding Refn‘s Drive starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan, is playing in competition and they’ve decided to do some business on the trip to France. Deadline tells us they are in final negotiations to acquire U.S. distribution for Looper, the next film from Brick and The Brothers Bloom director Rian Johnson.
The plan is to team with Sony Pictures’ TriStar label for marketing and distribution. The time travel film stars Bruce Willis (as an older version of Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s character), Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Jeff Daniels and Piper Perabo. The high-concept story follows “hitmen whose victims are sent back in time from the future to be executed. The Loopers bump them off in the present, so there...
The plan is to team with Sony Pictures’ TriStar label for marketing and distribution. The time travel film stars Bruce Willis (as an older version of Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s character), Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Jeff Daniels and Piper Perabo. The high-concept story follows “hitmen whose victims are sent back in time from the future to be executed. The Loopers bump them off in the present, so there...
- 5/15/2011
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The rich helping of grand Movie Music ladled over the great Israeli drama Footnote is just one of the many touches from filmmaker Joseph Cedar that make this invigorating Competition entry my favorite movie to date. (To date, by the way, is Saturday early evening, after a screening of the sadistic and meaninglessly voyeuristic Austrian pedophile drama Michael and before a screening of the latest from the Dardennes brothers.) Yes indeed, the music assures, there is no dramatic subject more titanic, more fraught, more Biblically elemental, more hilariously heartbreaking (or is it heartbreakingly hilarious?) and (in Cedar’s talented hands...
- 5/14/2011
- by Lisa Schwarzbaum
- EW - Inside Movies
Israeli writer-director Joseph Cedar's last feature, the Oscar-nominated "Beaufort," was a tense war movie about the 2000 South Lebanon conflict. His latest effort, "Footnote," involves a much more personal war, in which the opposing sides are a father and his grown son. In Cedar's dark comic fable, bookish eccentrics pit their egos against each other on a shrewdly composed battlefield where the only potential casualty is self-esteem. Cedar's screenplay follows ...
- 5/14/2011
- Indiewire
Sony Pictures Classics today announced its acquisition of North American and Latin American rights to Joseph Cedar’s Palme d’Or contending “Footnote” from the 2011 Festival de Cannes program.
The latest film from the Israeli director of “Beaufort” (nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in 2008) is described as a story about two professors, father (Shlomo Bar-Aba) and son (Lior Ashkenazi), competing with each other for a prestigious award, a process that reveals their need for external recognition from the world at large, and from each other.
Here’s the teaser for the film:
–Elliot V. Kotek
Search Terms Leading to This Post: joseph cedar, footnote cedar, footnote sony pictures classics, joseph cedar cannes, footnote joseph cedar, fort mccoy film, joseph cedar footnote, cannes joseph cedar, lior ashkenazi, www movingpicturesnetwork com/27874/cannes-acquisition-spc-picks-cedars-footnote/...
The latest film from the Israeli director of “Beaufort” (nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in 2008) is described as a story about two professors, father (Shlomo Bar-Aba) and son (Lior Ashkenazi), competing with each other for a prestigious award, a process that reveals their need for external recognition from the world at large, and from each other.
Here’s the teaser for the film:
–Elliot V. Kotek
Search Terms Leading to This Post: joseph cedar, footnote cedar, footnote sony pictures classics, joseph cedar cannes, footnote joseph cedar, fort mccoy film, joseph cedar footnote, cannes joseph cedar, lior ashkenazi, www movingpicturesnetwork com/27874/cannes-acquisition-spc-picks-cedars-footnote/...
- 5/14/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
Sony Pictures Classics today announced its acquisition of North American and Latin American rights to Joseph Cedar’s Palme d’Or contending “Footnote” from the 2011 Festival de Cannes program.
The latest film from the Israeli director of “Beaufort” (nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in 2008) is described as a story about two professors, father (Shlomo Bar-Aba) and son (Lior Ashkenazi), competing with each other for a prestigious award, a process that reveals their need for external recognition from the world at large, and from each other.
Here’s the teaser for the film:
–Elliot V. Kotek
Search Terms Leading to This Post: joseph cedar, footnote cedar, footnote sony pictures classics, joseph cedar cannes, footnote joseph cedar, fort mccoy film, joseph cedar footnote, cannes joseph cedar, lior ashkenazi, www movingpicturesnetwork com/27874/cannes-acquisition-spc-picks-cedars-footnote/...
The latest film from the Israeli director of “Beaufort” (nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in 2008) is described as a story about two professors, father (Shlomo Bar-Aba) and son (Lior Ashkenazi), competing with each other for a prestigious award, a process that reveals their need for external recognition from the world at large, and from each other.
Here’s the teaser for the film:
–Elliot V. Kotek
Search Terms Leading to This Post: joseph cedar, footnote cedar, footnote sony pictures classics, joseph cedar cannes, footnote joseph cedar, fort mccoy film, joseph cedar footnote, cannes joseph cedar, lior ashkenazi, www movingpicturesnetwork com/27874/cannes-acquisition-spc-picks-cedars-footnote/...
- 5/14/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
New York (May 13, 2011) -- Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all North American and Latin American rights to Joseph Cedar’s Footnote from WestEnd Films. The film is a contender for the 2011 Cannes Film Festival Palme D’Or. Cedar’s last film Beaufort was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in 2008. Footnote follows a great rivalry between a father and his son, their need for each other and their need for respect and recognition in the world. The film stars Shlomo Bar Aba and Lior Ashkenazi, and was produced by David Mandill (Beaufort, Campfire) and United King (Lebanon, Walk On Water). “Sony Pictures Classics represents the best in world cinema,” explained WestEnd chairman and co-founder Sharon Harel. “They are the perfect home for this wonderful film and very special director.” “When we met Joseph Cedar a few years ago, we knew he was a director of extraordinary talent.
- 5/13/2011
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
My inside-tipster on the Cannes competition told me to check out the Israeli entry from Oscar-nominated Beaufort director Joseph Cedar, Footnote (Hearat Shulayim), for which Sony Pictures Classics acquired North American and Latin rights before it screened Friday night. The comedic family drama, about rival father-son academics, aroused slight applause from the media. Cedar studied at the University of Jerusalem and Nyu Film School. (Trailer is below.) Distribs are also checking out John Hillcoat project Wettest County in the World, based on Matt Bondurant's novel about Prohibition-era Virginia bootleggers, starring Shia Labeouf, Tom Hardy, Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman and current it-girls Mia Wasikowska and Jessica Chastain. Wasikowska scored high praise in Gus Van Sant's Un Certain Regard opener Restless, which has otherwise met with mixed ...
- 5/13/2011
- Thompson on Hollywood
Updated through 4/20.
Gilles Jacob and Thierry Frémaux announced that, out of 1715 submissions, 49 features from 33 countries have been selected in total for this year's Cannes Film Festival — four of them made by women, a record. 19 titles are lined up for the Competition so far, leaving room for surprise announcements from here on to the Opening Ceremony on May 11.
Competition
Pedro Almodóvar's The Skin I Inhabit. As noted yesterday, here's what Variety's Justin Chang had heard as of this past weekend: "In late March, it seemed that Almodóvar, a Cannes veteran who won prizes for All About My Mother and Volver, might skip the event altogether this year. Since 2004's Bad Education, the helmer has presented every one of his films in competition at the May fest, usually following a spring local release. The Sept 2 Spanish release date for The Skin That I Inhabit (which Sony Classics will release Stateside in...
Gilles Jacob and Thierry Frémaux announced that, out of 1715 submissions, 49 features from 33 countries have been selected in total for this year's Cannes Film Festival — four of them made by women, a record. 19 titles are lined up for the Competition so far, leaving room for surprise announcements from here on to the Opening Ceremony on May 11.
Competition
Pedro Almodóvar's The Skin I Inhabit. As noted yesterday, here's what Variety's Justin Chang had heard as of this past weekend: "In late March, it seemed that Almodóvar, a Cannes veteran who won prizes for All About My Mother and Volver, might skip the event altogether this year. Since 2004's Bad Education, the helmer has presented every one of his films in competition at the May fest, usually following a spring local release. The Sept 2 Spanish release date for The Skin That I Inhabit (which Sony Classics will release Stateside in...
- 4/21/2011
- MUBI
Time for a story of insane competition, the admiration and envy for a role model, bringing father and son to a final, bitter confrontation.
That’s exactly a description of Footnote, Israeli drama directed by Joseph Cedar, that is, as you already know from our previous reports, scheduled to premiere In Competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. So check it out.
Footnote is “…the story of a great rivalry between a father and son. Both eccentric professors have dedicated their lives to their work. The father seems a stubborn purist who fears the establishment.
His son, Uriel, appears to strive on accolades, endlessly seeking recognition. But one day, the tables turn. The two men switch places when the father learns he is to be awarded the most valuable honour one can receive. His desperate need for recognition is betrayed, his vanity exposed. Uriel is torn between pride and envy.
That’s exactly a description of Footnote, Israeli drama directed by Joseph Cedar, that is, as you already know from our previous reports, scheduled to premiere In Competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. So check it out.
Footnote is “…the story of a great rivalry between a father and son. Both eccentric professors have dedicated their lives to their work. The father seems a stubborn purist who fears the establishment.
His son, Uriel, appears to strive on accolades, endlessly seeking recognition. But one day, the tables turn. The two men switch places when the father learns he is to be awarded the most valuable honour one can receive. His desperate need for recognition is betrayed, his vanity exposed. Uriel is torn between pride and envy.
- 4/19/2011
- by Fiona
- Filmofilia
It seemed like director Eytan Fox disappeared from the public eye, but this year he's planning a comeback. 20 years ago his short film After made a name for him as someone who put homosexuality at the center of his works. He moved on to direct a few other features and TV series, his breakthrough came a decade later, with Yossi and Jagger, a 65 min TV film that broke out from the little screen to be shown at movie theaters locally and internationally. His follow-up was the hugely successful Walk on Water, and after that came 2007's The Bubble, which was a local commercial success, but became a punching bag for most of the critics. Almost four years later, Fox is back: earlier this year it was announced that a Mamma-Mia type TV series he directed was re-cut into a feature length film, and sold to distribution in the U.S.
- 3/2/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
As ominous projects for cities such as Rio and Shanghai are being put together, it looks like Jerusalem, I Love You is taking shape with the confirmation of three signed directors in Oscar nominated Joseph Cedar (Beaufort), Cannes Golden Camera winner Etgar Keret (Jellyfish) (pictured above), and renowned director Amos Gitai (Kadosh, Kippur). There is a rumour that Ari Folman might also be a part of the project which is entirely possible as his next project The Congress will necessitate a longer working timeframe than most productions. Following such projects as New York, I Love You, and Paris, Je T'aime, this Cities of Love project promises much more than the previous two, for Jerusalem is a much more complicated setting, containing endless conflicts between religions (the city holds holy places for all three major faiths), between religious Jews and Secular Jews (the percentage of religious people living in Jerusalem is...
- 2/16/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
In the past few months, there has been a handful of Israeli films that were released locally but took a plunge at the box office as of the opening weekend. Most critics warmly welcomed most films, but the audience didn't. The Israeli movie industry is puzzled as to the sudden change in taste on the part of its public. Perhaps the movies this year were rather good, but far from the artistic heights of Beaufort or Waltz with Bashir. Maybe it's because most films this year were adaptations of books, and the Israeli viewer is reluctant to see those on the screen (in previous years most Israeli films were written directly for the screen.; Maybe it's the concentration of too much Israeli releases in a relatively short time (usually, most Israeli releases are scheduled for the Summer season, aiming to profit from the media attention they get from screenings in...
- 12/13/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Usually I'm rather suspicious when it comes to the independent filmmaking scene here in Israel. Though the heart is usually in the right place, most of indie films here lack in basic technical skills -- this deficiency makes many of these films unwatchable. However, there are a few exceptions to the rule. There was Danny Lerner's Frozen Days back in 2006, and it appears that a film titled Never Too Late might make low budget synonymous with overall quality. After directing a few shorts, and working in video-clips and in commercials, the Brooklyn-based visual artist Ido Fluk managed to raise a small amount of money via his website, and started shooting his feature film debut. The basic story line behind Never Too Late, revolves around a young man returning to Israel following the death of his father and the break up from his Australian girl friend. In the 8 years he's...
- 10/19/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Another moving film unveiled at the Haifa Film Festival was the documentary entitled, Sharon Amrani: Remember His Name. Sharon Amrani was perhaps the most promising director from the Israeli Movie industry in the late 1990's. Bonfire Night, his graduation film from the Sam Spiegel Film School in Jerusalem, won several awards, and his follow up, a 50 min. TV drama entitled Goodbye Cousin, picked up plenty of praise from both from critics and his colleagues alike. He even begun directing a TV series called Jerusalem Mix, but then disaster struck: the 31 year-old Amrani drowned. "It's like if I was dead before directing Late Marriage", says Dover Kosashvili in the one hour documentary. Since the beginning of the millennium, Israeli films became the hit of the international film scene, but still, the unique voice of Amrani, torn between religious and secular worlds, is missing. Amrani's story is brought to the screen by...
- 10/11/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
For the past decade, the film festival circuit has been kind to Israeli film and although they're still churning out quality films, this year certainly feels like an off one. Barely or not at all visible in Berlin, Cannes and Venice, the end of the calender year might change the picture. Last week, the Locarno film festival wrapped up with another award for veteran Israeli helmer Eran Riklis (see picture above). The helmer's The Mission of the Human Resources Manager won the Prix du Public - the same award he won six years ago for The Syrian Bride. It's rumored next stop is Tiff - that will be confirmed in tomorrow's final announcement. Another Israeli entry (see pic below) that is being mentioned for Tiff, is Avi Nesher's latest hit Once I Was. Nesher has been invited to participate in this year's Toronto Film Festival's Talent Lab, mentoring young...
- 8/23/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
No this isn't a remake of Pier Paolo Pasolini's film folks. This is Sodom had the biggest local opening since Avatar. The slapstick comedy (see trailer) set the record for the most tickets sold for an Israeli movie in it's first weekend. The laugher is made by the cast and crew of Eretz Nehederet (translates into "Wonderful Country" – an SNL-like Israeli TV show). Although most critics tore this film apart, for a summer movie, along with the laughs, it contains an impressive production. Supported by a massive campaign, the film is currently beating out Hollywood films such as Salt, Knight and Day, and even Nolan's Inception. No one expected to find This is Sodom on any awardd list, but the film received 5 nominations for the upcoming Ophirs. Should there be a surprise win at the ceremony, it will probably be an award for the supporting actress, Alma Zak -...
- 8/17/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
There are a number of new projects by the more established filmmakers that are currently in the post-production phases, the most anticipated is perhaps The Band's Visit's Eran Kolirin, who is in the editing stages of The Exchange. - Israeli Film Scene: Local The Israeli film scene appears to be in a hibernation mode right now. "Appears to be" – but isn't necessarily. There is only one Israeli film in local theaters now – it is Phobidilia by the Paz brothers. Based on a book by Izhar Harlev, "Phobidilia" tells the story of a young man, once a high-tech genius, now an agoraphobic. After spending the last couple of years of his life inside his apartment, and never leaving it, he is faced with the biggest challenge ever: A young and beautiful girl enters his life, and his landlord wishes to evacuate him. Both destabilize his life, and tranquility is shattered.
- 4/6/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
- #3. Lebanon Director: Samuel Maoz Cast: Yoav Donat, Itay Tiran, Oshri Cohen, Michael Moshonov, Zohar StraussDistributor: Rights Available. Buzz: Another Golden Lion option at Venice this year, there are obvious comparisons between this debut and such recent examples as Beaufort and Waltz with Bashir, the difference is this first time filmmaker actually remembers the war. If he didn't make the film, Moaz's torture would have continued to god knows where. There is a lot of good product coming out of Israel this year - and this could be the country's selection as Best Foreign Language film. The Gist: "I had just turned 19 in May of 1982. Life was beautiful. I was in love. Then I was requested to go to a military base. They assigned me to be the gunman of a tank, the first one to cross the Lebanese border. It was supposed to be a one day mission. It
- 8/22/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
Nine films will advance to the next round of voting in the foreign-language film category for the 80th Annual Academy Awards, though the big surprise is the omission of Romania's 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, which won the Palme d'Or at the 2007 Festival de Cannes and has been named best foreign-language film by numerous critics groups.
The films that were named are: Austria's The Counterfeiters, directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky; Brazil's The Year My Parents Went on Vacation, helmed by Cao Hamburger; Canada's Days of Darkness, helmed by Denys Arcand; Israel's Beaufort, directed by Joseph Cedar; Italy's The Unknown, directed by Giuseppe Tornatore; Kazakhstan's Mongol, directed by Sergei Bodrov; Poland's Katyn, directed by Andrzej Wajda; Russia's 12, helmed by Nikita Mikhalkov, and Serbia's The Trap, directed by Srdan Golubovic.
In addition to 4 Months, a notable omission is France's animated film Persepolis, which has already earned recognition including the Jury Prize at Cannes.
Foreign-language film nominations are being determined in two phases. The Phase I committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based members, screened the 63 eligible films and their ballots determined the above shortlist.
The films that were named are: Austria's The Counterfeiters, directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky; Brazil's The Year My Parents Went on Vacation, helmed by Cao Hamburger; Canada's Days of Darkness, helmed by Denys Arcand; Israel's Beaufort, directed by Joseph Cedar; Italy's The Unknown, directed by Giuseppe Tornatore; Kazakhstan's Mongol, directed by Sergei Bodrov; Poland's Katyn, directed by Andrzej Wajda; Russia's 12, helmed by Nikita Mikhalkov, and Serbia's The Trap, directed by Srdan Golubovic.
In addition to 4 Months, a notable omission is France's animated film Persepolis, which has already earned recognition including the Jury Prize at Cannes.
Foreign-language film nominations are being determined in two phases. The Phase I committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based members, screened the 63 eligible films and their ballots determined the above shortlist.
- 1/16/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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