Once, Israeli films were rarely shown at international film festivals, now it’s rare when they don’t win a prize there. It’s all in the eyebrows. When I used to tell people I wrote about Israeli movies, their eyebrows would …
Author Archives: Hannah Brown
The new Israeli divas
Ayelet Zurer in Fugitive Pieces, by director Jeremy Podeswa.The recently concluded 24th Haifa International Film Festival marked the start of a new era in the Israeli film industry: The most hotly anticipated star, who arrived only at the conclusion of …
A new breed of Israeli filmmaker
Sitting at a café near the Tel Aviv Cinematheque on a recent Friday morning, movie director Savi Gavizon could be any urbanite relaxing with a cup of java. Instead, he’s savoring the success of his latest film, Lost and Found, which …
Israeli cinema has arrived
The latest films aren’t flukes but the product of a talented new generation of filmmakers. New York, 1990: An Israeli friend and I study the program for the Israel Film Festival. “What’s going on?” asks my friend. “They’re all about …
The Israeli film dreams of Joseph
Black is always in fashion in Tel Aviv, especially at the cafe’ in the Cinematheque, but Joseph Cedar’s black kippa is a little unusual. The 36-year-old writer/director, whose latest movie, Campfire, just opened in Israel, has come to the Cinematheque …