A movie by the graduates from Ma'ale Film School in Jerusalem, won the BAFTA Award in the student film Live Action category at the ceremony held on Friday night in Los Angeles.
The film, titled Girl No. 60427 by Shulamit Lifshitz and Oriel Berkovits, won the 2022 Yugo BAFTA Student Award. This is the first time the awards ceremony has included a finalist to represent Israel, according to the BAFTA website.
The film combines drama and animation and is based on the director's memories as the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, who recorded her life in a personal diary during the Holocaust.
The judges said, upon choosing the film as the victor, that it was "a deep and emotional film that brings to extraordinary artistic expression the experiences of the third generation of Holocaust survivors."
"We congratulate director Shulamit Lifshitz and are happy about another landmark that proves the quality of Ma'ale School and the young generation of Israeli filmmakers," says Neta Ariel, director of Ma'ale School.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards is competition is considered the British equivalent of the Academy Awards in the United States. Many BAFTA members are also members of the academy that chooses the films nominated for the Oscars, and therefore many are able to predict the winners of the next Oscars following the BAFTAs.
"We congratulate director Shulamit Lifshitz and are happy about another landmark that proves the quality of Ma'ale School and the young generation of Israeli filmmakers."
Neta Ariel
This year, the Yugo BAFTA Student Awards received 715 submissions (a new record) from 134 schools in 36 different countries. The main categories include narrative film, animation, documentary, 360 videos, Experiential VR, VR Games and PC Games, the BAFTA's website stated.