“Israelism,” a timely documentary exploring changing Jewish attitudes toward Israel, has been acquired by newly-launched distributor Watermelon Pictures for North America.
The film, the directorial debut of Erin Axelman and Sam Eilertsen, premiered at the 2023 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and went on to win multiple awards, including an audience award at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. It will be released in theaters and on digital platforms nationwide early this summer.
As per the synopsis, “Israelism” is an “eye-opening and essential exploration of the dramatic shift in Jewish attitudes toward Israel, informed by Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, revealing a deepening generational divide over modern Jewish identity.”
The film centers on two young American Jews, Simone Zimmerman and Eitan, who are raised to defend the state of Israel at all costs. Eitan joins the Israeli military, while Zimmerman supports Israel on “the other battlefield:” America’s college campuses. When...
The film, the directorial debut of Erin Axelman and Sam Eilertsen, premiered at the 2023 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and went on to win multiple awards, including an audience award at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. It will be released in theaters and on digital platforms nationwide early this summer.
As per the synopsis, “Israelism” is an “eye-opening and essential exploration of the dramatic shift in Jewish attitudes toward Israel, informed by Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, revealing a deepening generational divide over modern Jewish identity.”
The film centers on two young American Jews, Simone Zimmerman and Eitan, who are raised to defend the state of Israel at all costs. Eitan joins the Israeli military, while Zimmerman supports Israel on “the other battlefield:” America’s college campuses. When...
- 5/10/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety Film + TV
In Israel, military service is mandatory. Director Guy Davidi, whose documentary “Innocence” premiered at the Venice Film Festival in the Horizons section, served as well. “I didn’t want to be a combatant, to hold a gun. I felt used, abused, like an instrument for the country. I already knew I was going to make films, did not have hopes to become a politician or a lawyer, so their threats did not have big weight. But for others getting a psychological evaluation and be released on psycho-mental grounds like I did is not an option,” he says.
“The other thing is that at this age if you’re not in the military, there’s nothing for you to do,” he adds. “Israel is not a place that values innocence. Our history as persecuted Jews, our enlightened democracy are both in use in our solid PR kit,” Davidi says. “If you...
“The other thing is that at this age if you’re not in the military, there’s nothing for you to do,” he adds. “Israel is not a place that values innocence. Our history as persecuted Jews, our enlightened democracy are both in use in our solid PR kit,” Davidi says. “If you...
- 9/12/2022
- by Anna Tatarska
- Variety Film + TV
More than 250 of Israel’s top filmmakers have signed an open letter, saying they will not seek funding from, nor cooperate with the recently–established Shomron (Samaria/West Bank) Film Fund, following the fund’s inaugural film festival in the occupied West Bank.
The filmmakers call on the Israeli Academy of Film and Television not to partake in “whitewashing the Occupation” ahead of the Ophir Awards — Israel’s Academy Awards — later this month. Read the full text of the letter below.
Among the signatories are multiple Academy Award winners and nominees. They have signed a public letter in which they state that they will not receive grants and will not participate in “lectura” (selection of films for development and production) or in professional events held by the Shomron (Samaria) Film Fund. The goal of the Shomron (Samaria) Film Fund, write the filmmakers, is “to invite Israeli filmmakers to actively participate...
The filmmakers call on the Israeli Academy of Film and Television not to partake in “whitewashing the Occupation” ahead of the Ophir Awards — Israel’s Academy Awards — later this month. Read the full text of the letter below.
Among the signatories are multiple Academy Award winners and nominees. They have signed a public letter in which they state that they will not receive grants and will not participate in “lectura” (selection of films for development and production) or in professional events held by the Shomron (Samaria) Film Fund. The goal of the Shomron (Samaria) Film Fund, write the filmmakers, is “to invite Israeli filmmakers to actively participate...
- 9/3/2022
- by Caroline Frost
- Deadline Film + TV
Guy Davidi, known for Sundance and Emmy winning and Oscar nominated documentary “Five Broken Cameras,” is Venice bound with his next film “Innocence.”
The film, which is in the festival’s Horizons strand, the only documentary selected in the section, tells the story of children who were unwillingly enlisted into the Israel military service, and many of them died. Through a narration based on their diaries, the film depicts their inner turmoil and interweaves first-hand military images, key moments from childhood until enlistment and home videos of the deceased soldiers.
“Nothing touches me more than a child’s sensitivity when they discover the world, and nothing hurts me more than seeing it getting crushed. Israel is not a place that values innocence. Its militarized identity requires the breaking down and distorting of the gentle lines of childhood. This commitment to violence has many victims, but there’s also a hidden tragedy – the collapse of parenthood,...
The film, which is in the festival’s Horizons strand, the only documentary selected in the section, tells the story of children who were unwillingly enlisted into the Israel military service, and many of them died. Through a narration based on their diaries, the film depicts their inner turmoil and interweaves first-hand military images, key moments from childhood until enlistment and home videos of the deceased soldiers.
“Nothing touches me more than a child’s sensitivity when they discover the world, and nothing hurts me more than seeing it getting crushed. Israel is not a place that values innocence. Its militarized identity requires the breaking down and distorting of the gentle lines of childhood. This commitment to violence has many victims, but there’s also a hidden tragedy – the collapse of parenthood,...
- 8/29/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
A group of Israeli filmmakers and artists are urging the Locarno Film Festival to drop the world premiere screening of Israeli feature My Neighbor Adolf due to concerns over what the group is calling “racist” and “explicitly political” conditions attached to its funding, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The tragicomedy, from Russian-born Israeli director Leon Prudovsky (Five Hours From Paris), is currently set to get a screening in Locarno on Thursday, Aug. 4, the second day of the festival, but the group — which includes Oscar-nominated director Guy Davidi (Five Broken Cameras, upcoming Venice-bowing doc Innocence) — has signed a letter calling on this event to be pulled because of the film’s support by the Rabinovich Foundation’s Israel Cinema Project, Israel’s largest film fund.
The move comes a day after Pacbi, the cultural arm of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, a Palestinian-led...
A group of Israeli filmmakers and artists are urging the Locarno Film Festival to drop the world premiere screening of Israeli feature My Neighbor Adolf due to concerns over what the group is calling “racist” and “explicitly political” conditions attached to its funding, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The tragicomedy, from Russian-born Israeli director Leon Prudovsky (Five Hours From Paris), is currently set to get a screening in Locarno on Thursday, Aug. 4, the second day of the festival, but the group — which includes Oscar-nominated director Guy Davidi (Five Broken Cameras, upcoming Venice-bowing doc Innocence) — has signed a letter calling on this event to be pulled because of the film’s support by the Rabinovich Foundation’s Israel Cinema Project, Israel’s largest film fund.
The move comes a day after Pacbi, the cultural arm of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, a Palestinian-led...
- 8/2/2022
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Right now, every film festival shares the same ambition: Get smarter about how to connect with audiences online. In the coming weeks, Hot Docs, Human Rights Watch, and AFI Docs will present online lineups; at Doc NYC, where I’m the artistic director, we are busily adapting to new realities for our November festival.
We’ve also seen online festivals inspire pessimism from some sales agents and programmers — but we don’t have time for that kind of thinking. Many filmmakers can’t hold back their work until next year, when competition will only increase for premiere slots and buyer attention, and many festivals can’t wait because they will cease to exist without revenue. We all need to keep getting smarter, faster.
While we all want to get back into theaters, the public is swiftly adapting to watch online content non-stop. Everyone from health care workers to dancers are...
We’ve also seen online festivals inspire pessimism from some sales agents and programmers — but we don’t have time for that kind of thinking. Many filmmakers can’t hold back their work until next year, when competition will only increase for premiere slots and buyer attention, and many festivals can’t wait because they will cease to exist without revenue. We all need to keep getting smarter, faster.
While we all want to get back into theaters, the public is swiftly adapting to watch online content non-stop. Everyone from health care workers to dancers are...
- 5/16/2020
- by Thom Powers
- Indiewire
Ramallah is only 10 miles north of Jerusalem, but for Palestinians living under occupation, the distance feels much longer. In “Mayor,” a thrilling and perceptive new documentary from director David Osit, the normalcy of everyday life faces the constant threat of disruption. That’s the conundrum facing Musa Hadid, the overworked protagonist at the center of an operatic vérité drama that often dips into bureaucratic black comedy and unnerving suspense, as Hadid’s exasperated attempts to keep the peace dissolve into a constant swirl of frustration.
There have been countless documentaries made about the West Bank experience, from “5 Broken Cameras” to “The Settlers,” and they often involve the travails of ordinary life existing side by side with military persecution. “Mayor” offers a striking new perspective on that struggle, with a personal on-the-ground quality matched by grand tonal ambitions that makes it the best of its subgenre.
Unfolding across several months...
There have been countless documentaries made about the West Bank experience, from “5 Broken Cameras” to “The Settlers,” and they often involve the travails of ordinary life existing side by side with military persecution. “Mayor” offers a striking new perspective on that struggle, with a personal on-the-ground quality matched by grand tonal ambitions that makes it the best of its subgenre.
Unfolding across several months...
- 3/6/2020
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
New festival director Orwa Nyrabia reveals his priorities.
International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa), opens with the world premiere of Aboozer Amini’s Kabul, City In The Wind today (November 14), and is the first festival to start reporting on how it is measuring up to the gender pledge it signed earlier this year.
The pledge, organised by French initiative 5050x2020, commits the festival to equal representation for women and men across the festival and is a key goal of new festival director Orwa Nyrabia. “It is a very serious commitment,” says Nyrabia.
“It is a big issue that our industry is...
International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa), opens with the world premiere of Aboozer Amini’s Kabul, City In The Wind today (November 14), and is the first festival to start reporting on how it is measuring up to the gender pledge it signed earlier this year.
The pledge, organised by French initiative 5050x2020, commits the festival to equal representation for women and men across the festival and is a key goal of new festival director Orwa Nyrabia. “It is a very serious commitment,” says Nyrabia.
“It is a big issue that our industry is...
- 11/14/2018
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
According to local filmmakers, the recent suppression of documentary Beyond The Fear is just one episode in a quickening erosion of artistic freedom in Israel.
As Nanni Moretti’s Mia Madre began to roll on the opening night of the Jerusalem Film Festival in the picturesque Sultan’s Pool amphitheatre in early July, another screening was kicking off just metres above the spectators’ heads.
On a terrace overlooking the event, some 50 film-makers and producers had gathered for a protest screening of Maria Kravchenko and the late Herz Frank’s Beyond The Fear.
They included The Kindergarten Teacher director Nadav Lapid; Keren Yedaya, who won Cannes’ Camera d’Or for her debut work Or; Ra’anan Alexandrowicz, whose credits include the award-winning The Law In These Parts; and Shlomi Elkabetz, co-director of the Golden Globe-nominated Gett: The Trial Of Viviane Amsalem which premiered in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in May 2014 and went on to win best film at...
As Nanni Moretti’s Mia Madre began to roll on the opening night of the Jerusalem Film Festival in the picturesque Sultan’s Pool amphitheatre in early July, another screening was kicking off just metres above the spectators’ heads.
On a terrace overlooking the event, some 50 film-makers and producers had gathered for a protest screening of Maria Kravchenko and the late Herz Frank’s Beyond The Fear.
They included The Kindergarten Teacher director Nadav Lapid; Keren Yedaya, who won Cannes’ Camera d’Or for her debut work Or; Ra’anan Alexandrowicz, whose credits include the award-winning The Law In These Parts; and Shlomi Elkabetz, co-director of the Golden Globe-nominated Gett: The Trial Of Viviane Amsalem which premiered in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in May 2014 and went on to win best film at...
- 7/24/2015
- ScreenDaily
Motorcycle Diaries: Curry Sees VanDyke Grow From Boy To Rebel
As kids, nearly everyone falls in love with the idea of throwing caution to the wind and buckling down for endless adventures into the great unknown. As we grow up most of us accept the comforts of familiarity and the rhythms and reliability of our network of loving friends and family, inevitably packing up our dreams of adventure along with our stuffed animals and action figures. Apparently, this thought never occurred for Matthew VanDyke, who grew up watching Alby Mangels’s cavalier travelogue World Safari films, transfixed by the idea of traversing the Earth’s wildest corners with camera in hand.
After graduating from Georgetown University with a Master’s in Security Studies in the Middle East, VanDyke felt compelled to follow in his idol’s footsteps, bought a camera and motorcycle and took off across the the Arab world...
As kids, nearly everyone falls in love with the idea of throwing caution to the wind and buckling down for endless adventures into the great unknown. As we grow up most of us accept the comforts of familiarity and the rhythms and reliability of our network of loving friends and family, inevitably packing up our dreams of adventure along with our stuffed animals and action figures. Apparently, this thought never occurred for Matthew VanDyke, who grew up watching Alby Mangels’s cavalier travelogue World Safari films, transfixed by the idea of traversing the Earth’s wildest corners with camera in hand.
After graduating from Georgetown University with a Master’s in Security Studies in the Middle East, VanDyke felt compelled to follow in his idol’s footsteps, bought a camera and motorcycle and took off across the the Arab world...
- 6/20/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Update: Emad Burnat, co-director of "5 Broken Cameras," has issued a statement about his and his family's detention at Lax en route to the Oscars: "Last night, on my way from Turkey to Los Angeles, CA, my family and I were held at Us immigration for about an hour and questioned about the purpose of my visit to the United States. Immigration officials asked for proof that I was nominated for an Academy Award® for the documentary 5 Broken Cameras and they told me that if I couldn't prove the reason for my visit, my wife Soraya, my son Gibreel and I would be sent back to Turkey on the same day. "After 40 minutes of questions and answers, Gibreel asked me why we were still waiting in that small room. I simply told him the truth: 'Maybe we'll have to go back.' I could see his heart sink. "Although this was an unpleasant experience,...
- 2/21/2013
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Michael Moore couldn’t save Flint, Michigan’s auto plants in the ’80s — but he did help to get Palestinian filmmaker Emad Burnat released from Lax’s detention room last night. Burnat is currently up for a Best Documentary Oscar for his film 5 Broken Cameras.
Burnat and his family arrived in Los Angeles last night in order to attend this week’s Academy Awards ceremony. But before they could exit the city’s main airport, they were “held at Us immigration for about an hour and questioned about the purpose of my visit to the United States,” Burnat said in a statement.
Burnat and his family arrived in Los Angeles last night in order to attend this week’s Academy Awards ceremony. But before they could exit the city’s main airport, they were “held at Us immigration for about an hour and questioned about the purpose of my visit to the United States,” Burnat said in a statement.
- 2/20/2013
- by Hillary Busis
- EW - Inside Movies
The first Palestinian documentary filmmaker nominated for an Academy Award, Emad Burnat on Tuesday narrowly avoided a mix up that could have barred him from attending the ceremony. Burnat, the co-director of the film 5 Broken Cameras, was detained along with his family by immigration officials after arriving at LAX, his representative confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. He was released after questioning. Michael Moore, a governor of the Academy's documentary branch and a champion of Burnat's film, tweeted about the incident in detail late Tuesday.
"Emad, his wife & 8-yr old son were placed in a holding area and told they didn't have the proper invitation on them to attend the Oscars," he wrote.
read more...
"Emad, his wife & 8-yr old son were placed in a holding area and told they didn't have the proper invitation on them to attend the Oscars," he wrote.
read more...
- 2/20/2013
- by Jordan Zakarin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Who’s in, who’s out?
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has finally settled the debate with its announcement of nominees for the 85th Academy Awards. Lincoln leads the pack with 12 nominations, followed by Life of Pi with 11.
Analysis is to come, but below are the contenders for the ceremony, which will take place Feb. 24.
Best Picture
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington,...
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has finally settled the debate with its announcement of nominees for the 85th Academy Awards. Lincoln leads the pack with 12 nominations, followed by Life of Pi with 11.
Analysis is to come, but below are the contenders for the ceremony, which will take place Feb. 24.
Best Picture
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington,...
- 1/10/2013
- by Anthony Breznican
- EW - Inside Movies
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that 15 films in the ever-controversial Documentary Feature category will advance in the voting process for the 85th Academy Awards. A whopping 126 pictures had originally qualified in the category. The 15 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies: "Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry," Never Sorry LLC "Bully," The Bully Project LLC "Chasing Ice," Exposure "Detropia," Loki Films "Ethel," Moxie Firecracker Films "5 Broken Cameras," Guy DVD Films "The Gatekeepers," Les Films du Poisson, Dror Moreh Productions, Cinephil "The House I Live In," Charlotte Street Films, LLC "How to Survive a Plague," How to Survive a Plague LLC "The...
- 12/3/2012
- by Peter Knegt
- Indiewire
Kino Lorber, Inc. has acquired all North American rights to the documentary "5 Broken Cameras," winner of the World Cinema Directing Award at the recently wrapped 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The company plans to release it theatrically in late summer, followed by a home video and digital release at the end of the year. Full release below: Kino Lorber Acquires All Us Rights To Award-winning Doc 5 Broken Cameras (2012) Winner of the World Cinema Directing Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival New York, NY – February 3, 2012 - Kino Lorber, Inc. (www.kinolorber.com) is proud to announce the acquisition of all Us rights to the acclaimed documentary 5 Broken Cameras (2012), a daring chronicle of resistance in the West Bank by first-time Palestinian director Emad Burnat and Israeli filmmaker Guy Davidi. Filmed from the perspective of a Palestinian farm laborer (i.e. co-director Emad Burnat), 5 Broken Cameras was shot using five...
- 2/3/2012
- Indiewire
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