Palestinian films make the Oscar shortlists, as Israeli hopefuls are passed over

None of the eligible Israeli films made the Oscar shortlists in the high-profile categories that were announced Tuesday in Los Angeles.

However, the documentaries The Bibi Files, which covers Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial, and No Other Land, about an alliance between a Palestinian activist and Israeli journalist, were both chosen for the Best Documentary Feature shortlist. 

In a surprise, the movie from Palestine, From Ground Zero, a collection of short films from Gaza, made the shortlist in the Best International Feature category.  

One Jewish-themed film made the Live Action Short shortlist, The Ice Cream Man by Robert Moniot, about a Jewish ice-cream parlor owner during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.

Yariv Mozer’s We Will Dance Again, a hard-hitting film about the massacre at the Supernova music festival, was one of the eligible films that was passed over this year in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Several hopefuls were passed over

Hopes had been high for the winner of this year’s Ophir Award for Best Picture, Come Closer by Tom Nesher, to make the Best International Feature shortlist.

It won the Viewpoints award at the Tribeca Festival, which shows it has appeal for viewers abroad, and it has been a hit with both critics and audiences. But although it did not make the cut, it already has a US distributor.

Perhaps this year’s shortlists can definitively lay to rest the myth that Jews control Hollywood. The last time an Israeli movie made the shortlist was Samuel Maoz’s Foxtrot in 2017 and the last time an Israeli film was nominated in this category was Joseph Cedar’s Footnote in 2012.

Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will now choose five out of the 15 movies on these shortlists for the final nominations, which will be announced on January 17.