International Oscar Race -- Big First Round of News!

by Nathaniel R

Festival season is about to begin (we kick off with Elisa in Venice again!) which means it's nearly fall. That also means various organizations and academies and councils around the world are deciding which of their country's films they should submit to the Oscar race for Best International Feature Film.

We now know 2 official submissions and a few finalist lists so let's start sharing the good news...

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Interview: The Director of Israel's Oscar Submission ‘Cinema Sabaya’

By Abe Friedtanzer

 

The winner of Israel’s Oscars, the Ophir Awards, automatically goes on to become the country’s Oscar submission for Best International Feature. This year, that film is Cinema Sabaya, which has an encore screening at the Other Israel Film Festival in New York City this Sunday after showing at last year’s festival. It’s also the feature directorial debut of Orit Fouks Rotem, who was kind enough to speak with me about her approach to this engaging movie about making movies...

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Who will / should win the Ophirs?

A special guest report from Israel about the upcoming Israeli film awards - Editor

Top contenders for the Israeli Oscar

by Johnathan Tsuria

The 2022 Ophir awards will take place at September the 18th, and the film which wins the top prize will represent Israel at the Oscars. For most Israelis, that is the only point of interest about these awards, as they are plagued by countless decisions that prevent moviegoers here from caring. The major problem is that there is zero connection between the films released so far in cinemas and the films which end up competing for the awards. For example, from the 5 nominees for Best Picture, only one (Where is Anne Frank) was released before the nominations were announced. Another (Cinema Sabaya), was released after they were announced, and the presumed frontrunner (Karaoke) will be released only after the ceremony. The other two (Valeria Is Getting Married, 35 Downhill) have no release date scheduled for Israeli cinemas apart from presumably their qualifying showings. Last year's winner, Let it Be Morning, wasn't reelased for regular moviegoers until the spring of 2022. 

Generally, I have to say that the nominations were something of a disappointment. Great films like June Zero and All I Can Do were mostly shut out while something like Where Is Anne Frank snagged a best picture nomination surely because the voters think it may do well at the Oscars – It got one other nomination, for sound, and that’s it.  However, there are good films nominated so let’s try to predict who will win... 

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TIFF: Israel’s ‘Valeria Is Getting Married’

By Abe Friedtanzer

As one of the most-nominated countries yet to actually take home the Best International Feature Oscar, Israel tends to offer up some very interesting choices. Its top contenders for the Oscar submission are always initially up for the Ophir, Israel’s Academy Awards which will be held on September 18th this year. The winner becomes the country’s official submission. Among the Ophir nominees we’ve already seen Karaoke, which played at Tribeca, and the animated film Where Is Anne Frank, which bowed at Cannes last year. Now another Ophir nominee, Valeria is Getting Married, makes its North American premiere in Toronto. 

For all the political content that Israeli films often contain, this one has less to do with Israelis and more to do with a disadvantaged immigrant population...

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Tribeca 2022: Considering Missed Opportunities in 'Karaoke'

By Abe Friedtanzer

 

We've all had an acquaintance whose influence wasn't necessarily welcome but may have ultimately been for the best. Karaoke follows an older couple whose newfound friendship with an eccentric man living nearby causes them to rethink their situation. Have they accompished what they wanted to over the course of their lives? Though Meir (Sasson Gabay) and Tova (Rita Shukrun) are a theoretically happy couple who have had a healthy marriage for years, they've reached a point of complacency and boredom, with neither of them giving the other what they need. Enter Itzik (Lior Ashkenazi)...

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