Ophir Nominations - which will become Israel's Oscar submission?

by Nathaniel R

Each year the winner of Best Picture at the Ophir Awards becomes the Israeli submission for the Oscar. If you've seen any of these pictures, do sound off. This year their nominees are...

• Ahed's Knee  (Nadav Lapid) - 8 nominations
  A drama about a filmmaker struggling with censorship. [Cannes Capsule]

• The Death of the Cinema and My Father, Too (Dani Rosenberg) -9 nominations
  A father and son cinephile drama 

• Image of Victory (Avi Nesher) - 15 nominations
  An epic true story about Egyptians and Israelis during the War of Independence

• Legend of Destruction  (Gidi Dar) - 7 nominations
  An animated film about the Jewish revolt against Rome in the year 70

• Let There Be Morning (Eran Kolirin) -15 nominations
  This film bills itself as a "bittersweet comedy" about the metaphorical walls we place around our heart, as well as national belonging. UPDATE: LET THERE BE MORNING HAS WON THE OPHIR

All of the films were also nominated for Best Director and none of those directors have ever been submitted to the Oscars before. Other recent Israeli films that received multiple nominations were Honeymood (fun title), More Than I Deserve (an immigrant family drama), and The House on Fin Street (a sex trafficking drama).

We have to assume that Image of Victory and Let There be Morning are the frontrunners given that they've nearly doubled the nominations of the other films though Ahed's Knee has the biggest international profile thus far since it competed at Cannes and Nadav Lapid made some international waves with his previous feature Synonyms. Lapid also moonlights as an actor and he has a supporting role in Madeleine Collins that we reviewed in Venice.

Israel was very popular with the Academy in the 1970s and again in the 2000s but they haven't been nominated in 10 years now. Israel currently holds the record of most nominations for a country (10) without any wins. You can read more about Israel's Oscar history here and see the current Oscar submission charts (titles are just starting to be announced).

Comments

[Jésus Alonso]

Spain announced the shortlist of candidates for the submission to AMPAS...

Parallel Mothers (obviously)
Mediterraneo, by Marcel Barrena
El Buen Patrón, by Fernando León de Aranoa (with Javier Bardem)

... while Parallel Mothers may look the most obvious option... I am seriously doubting it, given the competition, and I think that the conservative members of the Spanish Academy, would object to Almodóvar's film, representing Spain.

[ratednext]

Jesus: Official Competition wasn't eligible?

[Kris]

The only one I've seen of these so far, is The death of cinema and my father too (at Jerusalem fest), and I think it was just "ok", and I'm afraid if they choose that one, then the'll be left out of the race. It was kind of original though with moviemaking within the film, the father son relationship and the social side and constant fear of the bombing, but not something that appeals to many voters I guess.

[Yehon]

I saw only 3 of these, but Legend of Destruction is the standout, easily. It's not "Animation" per se (the frame rate is much much lower than 24 per second) but it is a unique experience, and also something so inherently Jewish (unlike some films that are more "Israeli"). If it ever gets out of here, i think it's a must see.

Ahed's Knee and Death of Cinema are...fine? Lapid will one day be a good director, but not yet and Death of Cinema is just... "ok"-ish? they're not bad, but just far from the cream of what Israeli cinema has to offer.