קוֹלְנוֹעַ יִשְׂרְאֵלִי‎ (kol-no-a is-re-li – Israeli Cinema) refers to movie production in Israel since its founding in 1948. Most Israeli films are produced in Hebrew. Israel has been nominated for more Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film than any other country in the Middle East.

Before 1968 about 3 million Israelis went to the cinema. After 1968, when television began broadcasting in Israel, theaters began to close down. Over 300 theaters were torn down or redesigned as multiplex theaters.

History

In the early 1900s, silent movies were filmed in Palestine and screened in sheds, cafes or other temporary structures. In 1905, Cafe Lorenz opened on Jaffa Road in the new Jewish neighborhood of Neve Tzedek. From 1909, the Lorenz family began screening movies at the cafe. In 1925, the Kessem Cinema was housed there for a short time.

The first film studios were established in Herzliya in the 1950s, among them סרטי גבע (Geva Films) and אולפני ההסרטה בישראל (Israeli Film Studios). In 1954, the Knesset passed the החוק לעידוד הסרט הישראלי – Law for the Encouragement of Israeli Films. Well-known filmmakers in the 1960s were מנחם גולן (Menahem Golan), אפרים קישון (Ephraim Kishon), and אורי זוהר (Uri Zohar).

Early films were mainly סֶרֶט תִּעוּדִי [דּוֹקוּמֶנְטָרִי] – se-fet tee-oo-dee / do-koo-men-tah-ree (documentaries) or יוֹמַן קוֹלְנוֹעַ, יוֹמַן חֲדָשׁוֹת – kol-no-‘ah / yo-mahn ha-dash-ot (news reels), shown in Israeli cinemas before the movie started. One of the pioneers of Israeli cinema was ברוך אגדתי‎ Baruch Agadati. Agadati purchased יעקב בן דב Ya’akov Ben Dov’s film archives in 1934 when Ben Dov retired from filmmaking.

The הרְגִישׁוּת החֲדָשָׁה – har-gee-shoot ha-khah-dahsh-ah (new sensitivity) movement produced social artistic films such as But Where Is Daniel Wax? by Avraham Heffner. השׁוֹטֵר אזולאי – ha-sho-ter a-zoo-lay (The Policeman Azoulay), אֲנִי אוֹהֵב אוֹתְךָ רוֹזָה – a-nee oh-tehv ot-khah ro-zah (I Love You Rosa) and The House on Chelouche Street by Moshé Mizrahi were candidates for a Oscar Award in the foreign film category.

Other films include:

מאחורי הסורגים– Beyond the Walls

הקיץ של אביה– Summer of Aviya

בלוז לחופש הגדול– Late Summer Blues

خمسين‎ – Hamsin

In the 1990s, there was an emergence of films about anti-heroes at the margins of society, such as Amazing Grace by Amos Gutman, which dealt with AIDS patients. Notable films of this period were:

החיים על פי אגפא– Life According to Agfa

זֹהַר‎‎– Zohar

החברים של יאנה– Yana’s Friends

In the first decade of the 21st century, several Israeli films won awards in film festivals around the world. Prominent films of this period include:

חתונה מאוחרת– Late Marriage

כנפיים שבורות– Broken Wings

האסונות של נינה– Nina’s Tragedies

סוף העולם שמאלה– Turn Left at the End of the World

ואלס עם באשיר– Waltz With Bashir

Genres in the Cinema

Bourekas films

Just like the United States had their “Spaghetti Westerns” in the 1960’s and early 1970’s, Israel had their share of סרטי בורקס Bourekas films. These films usually showed a conflict between Mizrahi Jews (the poor, street smart person, who has conflicts with the government) and Ashkenazi Jews – the rich, conceited, arrogant, cold-hearted and alienated types. Bourekas films are further characterized by accent imitations (particularly of Jewish people originating from Morocco, Persia, and Poland); a combination of melodrama, comedy and slapstick; and alternate identities.

Some examples of Bourekas films include

סאלח שבתי– Sallah Shabati

חור בלבנה– Hole in the Moon

צ’ארלי וחצי– Charlie Ve’hetzi

חגיגה בסנוקר– Hagiga B’Snuker

Prominent filmmakers in this genre during this period include בועז דוידזון Boaz Davidson, זאב רווח Ze’ev Revach, יהודה ברקן‎ Yehuda Barkan and George Obadiah.

New sensitivity films

The “New sensitivity films” סרטי הרגישות החדשה is a movement which started during the 1960s and lasted until the end of the 1970s. The movement sought to create a cinema in modernist cinema with artistic and esthetic values, in the style of the new wave films of the French cinema. One of the most important creators in this genre is אורי זוהר Uri Zohar, who directed the films Hor B’Levana (Hole In The Moon) and שלושה ימים וילד Three Days and a Child.

Docudrama

When it comes to events of historical importance, shooting such movies is relatively easy. There is a lot of written material about them in Hebrew which could be used as a basis for a script. And how about the actors or extras? You’ll find a lot of people with knowledge about these historical events due to personal experience. Some events may be filmed as they happen, giving more realism to the film.

Musicals

Many Israeli films include songs performed by the actors, but rarely will you see dancing and singing at the same time

Military movies

Whether it’s a comedy, drama or documentary, many military Israeli films engage in the IDF and in the military way of life. These fall under the genres of either macho propaganda of fighting men, or “shoot now, regret it later” films.

Holocaust films

Many films about the lives of Holocaust survivors have been made in Israel.

Cinema awards

Ophir Award – The Ophir Awards פרס אופיר‎, also the Israeli Oscars, are film awards awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry. They are named after actor Shaike Ophir and first given out in 1982.

Wolgin Award – In 1989, van Leer persuaded American philanthropist Jack Wolgin to set up a competition bearing his name for the best Israeli films. The Wolgin Prize has become the country’s most prestigious feature film award. In 2008, van Leer, 84, stepped down as director of the festival and turned the job over to a new CEO, Ilan de Vries.

Cinema festivals

Jerusalem Film Festival – The Jerusalem Film Festival פסטיבל הקולנוע ירושלים‎ is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, Israel. The festival was the brainchild of Lia van Leer, who inaugurated it on May 17, 1984. Feature films and documentaries from all over the world are screened, and awards are presented in many categories.

Awards

Competitions at the Jerusalem Film Festival include the Wolgin Award for Israeli Cinema, the Anat Pirchi Drama Award, the Spirit of Freedom Awards, the Forum for the Preservation of Audio-Visual Memory in Israel Award for the Creative use of Archival Footage and the FIPRESCII competition for first time filmmakers.

Haifa International Film Festival

The Haifa International Film Festival is an annual film festival that takes place during Sukkot and attracts a wide audience of film-goers and media professionals from Israel and abroad. Throughout the week special screenings are held of 150 new films. Apart from movies screened around the clock at seven theaters, the festival features open-air screenings. Film categories include feature films, documentaries, animation, short films, retrospectives and tributes.

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Official site of the Israeli Film and Television Academy –
http://www.israelfilmacademy.co.il

Israeli Film Center: http://www.israelfilmcenter.org

Haifa International Film Festival: http://www.haifaff.co.il/index.php?changeLang=eng