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Film Festivals

THE ISRAELI FILM FESTIVAL

By Oren Shai • Nov 1st, 2006 •

The 1970’s saw a huge boom in the Israeli Film Industry. In 1964, SALLAH SHABATI was the first Israeli film nominated for an Academy Award. During the 70’s four different films received nominations (’71, ’72, ’73 and ’77). There were art films, comedies, exploitation films, ethnic farces, dramas, musicals and more. It was a breeding ground for both artists of a new generation (The Israeli Baby-Boomer if you will) and of more experienced filmmakers from the decades before. Television only had one Channel (in black & white) and Israelis loved local cinema.

Many people exited the industry throughout the 80’s (some to equally successful film careers in the United States, some to new fields). Due to commercialization, politics and the growing popularity of the VCR, by the end of the decade, the industry was dying. The cherry on top – multi channel television was introduced in the early 90’s. With cable TV and video, the film industry was no longer needed. As a result, finances became hard to find and fewer films were being made. The only resort was government financing, which was hard to receive and didn’t always go to the best projects.

Fast-forward to 2006 and Israeli films are on the map again. Recent international successes and releases of films such as LATE MARRIAGE (2001), YOSSI AND JAGGER (2002), WALK ON WATER (2004), USHPIZIN (2005) and more, are helping the local industry to recuperate. The increased popularity is resulting in larger finances and an impressive crop of films. It’s a good start but there is still a long way to go, both in quantity and quality.

The Israeli Film Festival is the largest showcase of Israeli films in the United States. The 21st edition of the festival took place in New York between Feb 23 to Mar 9 (with more dates set for LA and Miami) it featured 42 Israeli films and television dramas and a number of shorts.

Following a modest reception, the opening gala of this year’s festival started out 15 minutes late (“on Israeli time” as they joked). At the top was a long video roll of commercials and mentions of all the festival’s sponsors, from the biggest to the smallest. Little did the audience know that this presentation would precede each and every one of the festival’s screenings. Two awards were handed out: The Cinematic Achievement Award to veteran Israeli director Haim Bouzaglo (who had two films featured in the festival) and the Visionary Award to David Brown (producer of JAWS, DRIVING MISS DAISY and many others).

The choice of award winners indicates an identity problem for the festival – There is no separation between nationality and religion. The Los Angeles edition of this year’s festival saw Bernie Brillstein, James Schamus, David Linde and Amos Gitai all receive awards. While all recipients in both editions deserve their titles and accolades, only Bouzaglo and Gitai actually have anything to do with the Israeli film industry, the others are connected only through their religion. An Israeli Film Festival should award personalities who impacted and contributed to the development and preservation of Israeli films and leave the Jewish Film Festival to award deserving personalities in the American-Jewish community.

The feature presentation of the opening gala was OUT OF SIGHT, directed by Daniel Sirkin, winner of the Best Director award from the Israeli Academy. The film tells the story of Ya’ara (Tali Sharon), a young blind woman returning to Israel from Harvard University, in order to mourn the death (by suicide) of her best friend, Talia. As the week progresses, fueled by childhood memories, she begins to question the reasons for Talia’s suicide and sets out to find the truth. Even though OUT OF SIGHT is far from innovative, it keeps the viewer’s eyes on the screen. The strong cast, led by Tali Sharon (who previous to this film was a television-soap star) and rounded up by Assi Dayan makes up for what the filmmaking is lacking. Dayan himself is a legendary Israeli film director and was nominated for the Most Promising Actor award at the 1970 Golden Globes, for his role in Jules Dassin’s PROMISE AT DAWN.

None of the films in this year’s festival were striking as the next international hit. A few critically acclaimed television dramas were screened, most notable were Dana Modan’s LOVE HURTS (“a romantic drama about young Israelis at the beginning of the millennium”) that won many Israeli television awards and REACHING FOR HEAVEN, that focused on a family torn by the father’s return to religion. The Israeli TV Academy awarded Orly Zilbershatz the Best Actress for her portrayal of the wife. Both she and Yoram Hatab as the husband give superb performances. These TV shows are not made with the intention of being projected on a big screen and aesthetically they are sometimes hard to watch in that format – the acting truly saves the day.

METALLIC BLUES, of the surface, seemed promising. Shmuel and Sisco, two used-car dealers, buy a spotless 1985 Lincoln Continental limousine for a bargain price. They send the car to Germany and set on a cross-country trip in order to sell it to a specialized car dealer for a handsome profit. Such a great premise for a wild road comedy. The film stars Moshe Ivgy and Avi Kushnir, arguably two of the best actors in Israel today and as far as their chemistry goes – they deliver. Unfortunately the film stops them in their tracks every time they start to shine, by adding unnecessary drama as Shmuel (Kushnir) tries to cope with his family’s history in the Holocaust and the historical fear and anger he feels towards Germany. The drama simplifies and cheapens the already existing tension and historical context deriving from two Israelis who travel to Germany to sell a car. Then again, if sold as a pure comedy, it may have never gotten the budget to be made.

The Mid-Gala was exciting – In attendance was Dr. Ruth Westheimer, to some, a cultural hero (I was tempted to complement on her classic guest appearance in a 1993 episode of QUANTOM LEAP but froze when the time came to speak). A Humanitarian award was given to Aaron Ziegelman, one of the main supporters of the festival.

The film screened was NOW OR NEVER, the story of David Ben-Gurion’s struggles in the months preceding the founding of the state of Israel. It was a bit of a cheat to program NOW OR NEVER as a feature film as it was obviously a television drama. Being programmed as the centerpiece of the festival had everything to do with its subject and nothing to do with its quality. The film was interesting to watch as with such a story, you can’t lose, but it would have played better on TV.

The Israeli Film Festival is a great operation that has potential to expose the American audience to Israeli films. However in New York, it failed to attract them. Many of the screenings had a full house in attendance but the majority of the viewers were either Israelis or members of the American-Jewish community. Rather than attract a new and younger audience, they are preaching to the choir. One moment that really captured that atmosphere was when the MC of the mid-gala asked “The Israeli Film Festival is 21 years old. Who in this audience still feels like they’re 21?” Everybody raised their hands.

Even with its faults, the festival is a labor of love and an important showcase for Israeli films. The quality of the festival really depends on the Israeli film crop of each year rather than the programming as they literally show everything that was made. Meir Fenigstein, the founder and director (and former pop star!) of the festival, has been running it for 21 years and still going strong. He attends and introduces each and every screening and stands as the only person campaigning for so many Israeli films in the United States today. His dedication to this cause is admirable and I am looking forward to the 22nd edition and seeing the evolvement of the Israeli film industry.