Someday, when Israeli-American films have become an everyday thing, and, who knows, maybe American actors will come to Israel for auditions, 2015 will be remembered as Israeli cinema’s Hollywood-breakthrough year. True, there were signs leading up to this over the course of the past decade, with four Oscar nominees for Best Foreign Language Film: Joseph Cedar’s Beaufort (2007), Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir (2008), Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti’s Ajami (2009), and Joseph Cedar’s Footnote (2011). Add to that list the many Israeli television series that were adapted for the US market, including In Treatment (based on Hagai Levi’s BeTipul), Hostages (based on Rotem Shamir and Omri Givon’s Bnei Aruba ), Midnight Sun (based on Noah Stollman’s Timrot Ashan), The Naked Truth (based on Uri and Benny Barbash’s HaEmet HaEruma), and Hagai Levi and Sarah Treem’s The Affair, which won a Golden Globe for Best Television Series Drama. And there were also two movies: The Debt, an American adaptation of Assaf Bernstein and Ido Rosenblum’s HaHov, and Adam Resurrected (2008) - perhaps the first Israeli-American collaboration on a film, the screenplay for which is based on Yoram Kaniuk’s 1968 story, and was written by Noah Stollman, directed by Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver), co-produced by Ehud Bleiberg, and which stars many Israeli and American actors, including Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, Ayelet Zurer, and Hana Laszlo.
But what is about to happen this year is more than a step up: First of all, Mihal Brezis and Oded Binnun’s short film Aya has been nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Live Action Short category. This is the first time an Israeli feature film has been nominated for any category other than Best Foreign Language Film. This is an impressive achievement on all levels, particularly in light of the fact that many thousands of short films are produced around the world each year. This film’s inclusion in the Academy’s list of the top-five best short films is no less impressive than it is surprising.
This year, Israeli directors Navot Papushado and Aharon Keshales will begin working on a new Hollywood film - an adaptation of a French-Chinese horror film, having signed a deal with Sony Pictures; Israeli screenwriter Ehud Lavski, who was included in a list of the 100 most promising screenwriters in Hollywood, is also quite sought after by the Hollywood studios; and Israeli-American Academy Award winner Natalie Portman will release her debut film as director and producer, A Tale of Love and Darkness, an Israeli-Hollywood adaptation of Amos Oz’s autobiographical novel.
But the highlight is Joseph Cedar’s new film Oppenheimer, which will begin filming in New York next month (and will continue filming in Jerusalem two months later), and will star Richard Gere and Lior Ashkenazi. The movie will be filmed by Israeli cinematographer Yaron Scharf, and produced by Oren Moverman and David Mandil.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 19, 2015
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