The 34th Israel Film Festival in LA goes online amid COVID-19
This year the board of directors of the Israel Film Festival has selected Meir Fenigstein, the festival’s founder and executive director, to receive the 2020 IFF Lifetime Achievement Award.
By HANNAH BROWNAMOS GITAI’S ‘Laila in Haifa.’(photo credit: Courtesy)
The 34th Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles, the largest showcase for Israeli cinema in North America, will be presented exclusively online this year through December 27 and will be available for Southern California residents. The opening night Film on Sunday was Asia, winner of nine Ophir Awards including Best Film, Best Director for Ruthy Pribar, and Best Supporting Actress for Shira Haas, who also won the Best Actress Award for Asia at the Tribeca Film Festival and was nominated for an Emmy Award for her role in Netflix’s Unorthodox. Asia, which tells the story of an unconventional mother-daughter relationship in extraordinary circumstances, is Israel’s official selection to be considered for an Academy Award nomination in the Best International Feature category.This year the board of directors of the Israel Film Festival has selected Meir Fenigstein, the festival’s founder and executive director, to receive the 2020 IFF Lifetime Achievement Award. Best known in Israel as a member of the legendary band called Kaveret, who went by the nickname Poogy, Fenigstein is being recognized for his commitment to bringing Israeli cinema to audiences around the world.To coincide with Fenigstein’s honor and his 70th birthday, the festival will present the Kaveret/Poogy reunion concert film, shot in 2013 at two sold-out performances in Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park with more than 100,000 concert goers, as the opening-night film.This year’s festival edition will allow audiences to discover the very best of new Israeli cinema and rediscover old gems, including award-winning features, documentaries, past Ophir Award winners and also to watch Q&As with leading filmmakers and actors.Sublet, directed and co-written by Eytan Fox, will have the Festival Centerpiece position. This is Fox’s first English-language feature-length film, starring John Benjamin Hickey (The Good Wife) and Israeli actor Niv Nissim, and it tells the story of a grieving American journalist who comes to Tel Aviv and forms a bond with the young man who guides him through the city. I worked as script editor on the film and I interviewed Fox for a conversation that will be presented following the film.Laila in Haifa, Amos Gitai’s latest feature film, which premiered at the 2020 Venice Film Festival in the Official Competition, will close the festival with a screening followed by a Q&A with Gitai, hosted by Richard Peña, former program director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York.The festival will also honor beloved actor, producer and director Yehuda Barkan, who passed away in October at age 75 from complications of the COVID-19 virus, with a screening of his last acting role in Love in Suspenders, a romantic comedy. Barkan was a favorite in classic Israeli comedy films and a master of practical jokes whose penchant for prank calls helped establish his career 55 years ago.To purchase tickets for all online screenings and Q&As visit www.israelfilmfestival.com
