Director of Photography
Artist Eli Shamir paints the view from his studio balcony - fields stretching to the horizon, ancient oak trees, and a generation of farmers that is disappearing from the vistas of the Jezreel Valley. His large oils are treasured by collectors worldwide. It was director Ben Shani's encounter with one of Shamir's works that spawned the idea of documenting the artist at work. Neither of them had any idea that everything would change as the filming progressed, as an unforeseen danger threatened to rob Shamir of his talent. Filmed over the course of ten years, A lullaby for the Valley focuses on the fascinating figure of Eli Shamir and his paintings. As time passes, like the endless fields of the valley, they are transformed before our very eyes.
Still Photographer
Yoav's demons start haunting him after his best friend becomes pregnant, without telling him, and after his boyfriend of 15 years starts talking about children, too. His life unravels, and self-destruction seems inevitable.
Cinematography
Ravit spends all of her time spreading her love wherever it is needed. During the day she cooks for hundreds of Tel Aviv's homeless. In the evenings she hugs abandoned babies in the birthing ward. Without human touch and the warmth of a hug, the abandoned babies won't develop properly and can even die. Ravit always wanted children of her own, but life dictated otherwise. As she turns 50, she decides that she too wants to be on love's receiving end, but that may prove to be a lot harder to find.
Director of Photography
Patient-doctor relationships are never easy, but when the patient cannot talk or make decisions, it becomes particularly complicated. This is the everyday reality for the protagonists of this film: Ariella, a veterinarian, and Shmulik, the chief caretaker of a wildlife hospital. As they try to treat their patients, they face questions that are also applicable to life outside the clinic walls.
Screenplay
Patient-doctor relationships are never easy, but when the patient cannot talk or make decisions, it becomes particularly complicated. This is the everyday reality for the protagonists of this film: Ariella, a veterinarian, and Shmulik, the chief caretaker of a wildlife hospital. As they try to treat their patients, they face questions that are also applicable to life outside the clinic walls.
Director
Patient-doctor relationships are never easy, but when the patient cannot talk or make decisions, it becomes particularly complicated. This is the everyday reality for the protagonists of this film: Ariella, a veterinarian, and Shmulik, the chief caretaker of a wildlife hospital. As they try to treat their patients, they face questions that are also applicable to life outside the clinic walls.
Director of Photography
It took the Israeli secret service four years to get their hands on right-wing terrorist organisation, the Jewish Underground. After carrying out several attacks on Muslims in the early 1980s, the group plotted to blow up the Dome of the Rock. Director Shai Gal reconstructs the events in the form of a detective story with dramatisations and interviews with key figures, including the perpetrators, who claim they have nothing to hide. With a chilling contemporary relevance, director Gal reveals the ties between members of the Jewish Underground and the Israeli political sphere are stronger than ever.
Camera Operator
Where roads are paved with good intentions. Dana, a young, contemplative woman carries the load of her family on her shoulders while Hannah, her grandmother, senses life coming to an end. Fate intervenes amongst lies and deception to grant one last chance of reprieve with an unexpected twist. Creative plot and beautiful artistic film making, combined with talented real-life characters who wear their hearts on their sleeve.
Director
An estimated 400,000 people were tattooed with serial numbers at Auschwitz, of whom only a few thousand survive today. This intimate and visually rapturous documentary details the current lives of some of these survivors, their memories of the camps, and their relationships with the numbers. Numbered is an emotionally affecting portrait of memory and history, and their enduring presence in individual lives.
