Screen Jerusalem Day 5

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 19 – SUNDAY, JULY 23 2017

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Industry presence lifts festival to new heights Charlotte

Bibo brushes with history for Charlotte BY TOM GRATER

French animator and director Eric “Bibo” Bergeron (Shark Tale, A Monster In Paris) and his producer Julia Rosenberg are in Jerusalem to check out the city’s budding animation scene and discuss potential partnerships. The pair are gearing up for their ambitious feature animation project Charlotte, about German-Jewish painter Charlotte Salomon. Bergeron is also delivering a masterclass at Jerusalem Film Festival’s animation development event The Hop, Skip & A Jump II on July 19. The Canada-France-Belgium coproduction between Rosenberg’s January Films, Eric Goossens and Anton Roebben’s Walking the Dog (A Monster In Paris), and Blue Spirit (My Life As A Courgette) has a $10m budget. The project is inspired by the life and work of Salomon, who painted 769 works in the south of France between 1941 and 1943 while hiding from the Nazis. “Her story spoke to me immediately. It went straight to my heart,” Bergeron told Screen International.

BY TOM GRATER

This year’s Jerusalem Film Festival (JFF) feted a collective love for cinema and put a greater emphasis on international industry. JFF’s industry arm was boosted by the inaugural edition of Think Fest. The new film festival-focused event brought together leading festival directors from Tribeca, Rotterdam, Karlovy Vary, Locarno, Berlin and Sarajevo among others to discuss the burning issues facing the festival ecosystem, including challenges posed by the emergence of streaming giants Netflix and Amazon. JFF artistic

We must help each other more.” The festival is reporting high levels of public engagement, not just in the generally well-attended Israeli features, but also for highprofile international titles such as Cannes premieres The Beguiled and Good Time. Younger audiences have been coming out in greater numbers this year, according to the JFF. Which titles triumph in the festival’s award categories will be revealed on July 20 at a ceremony held at the Cinematheque, while screenings continue to run until July 23, when JFF officially wraps.

Good Time

FEATURE Small wonders Profiling the 20 titles in this year’s Israeli Short Film Competition » Page 4

REVIEW Good Time Robert Pattinson is never-better in this edgy, immersive thriller » Page 6

Final print daily

This is Screen’s final print edition for JFF 2017, for continued coverage see ScreenDaily.com

Lior Sasson

Sam Spiegel Lab names new director

Yam Vignola

BY TOM GRATER

Ofir Raul Graizer, writer-director of Israeli Feature Competition title The Cakemaker, on the red carpet for his film’s Jerusalem Film Festival premiere.

Jump-start for Jerusalem animators The second edition of the animationfocused The Hop, Skip & A Jump continues today and tomorrow (July 19-20). The event, involving mentoring, masterclasses and pitching for eight animation projects, is an initiative of the Jerusalem Film & TV Fund as part of its drive to grow an animation industry in the city. “We learned a lot from the first edition,” says fund director Yoram Honig. “One of the

director Elad Samorzik celebrated the first edition of Think Fest: “We’re super happy. It was a good time to start reflecting on the past and talking about the future of film festivals in the changing world of arthouse cinema.” Following a successful first edition, Samorzik expects the initiative to run and run, potentially beyond Jerusalem. “I am certain it will develop into something larger, not only in Jerusalem,” he says. “People here from various festivals were really excited. We will have more collaboration between festivals.

TODAY

key feedbacks was that both the mentors and the projects were too arthouse last year. We’ve tried to be more commercially focused and looked for projects with market potential as well as mentors and speakers with experience in Hollywood productions or successful animation works.” Speakers include Israeli animators Gili Dolev and Alex Melanie Goodfellow Orrelle.

Wise Hassan, Asia and Echoes scale the Pitch Point summit BY TOM GRATER

The winners from the 12th edition of Jerusalem Pitch Point were unveiled at Jerusalem Film Festival on Monday (July 17) during a ceremony held at Ticho House. The initiative’s top prize the Van Leer Award, worth $5,500 (ILS20,000), went to Palestinian filmmaker Tawfik Abu Wael’s Wise Hassan. The Tel Aviv-set thriller marks the director’s third feature and is being

produced by Baher Agbariya at Haifa-based Majdal Films. Ruthy Pribar’s Asia took the DB & Opus Award, which comes with post-production services to the value of $15,000 (ILS55,000). The Cinelab Award went to Amikam Kovner and Assaf Snir’s Echoes, about a man trying to discover the identity of his late wife’s lover. Yoni Paran and Keren Michael of Doria Media Paran are producing.

Sam Spiegel International Film Lab associate director Ifat Tubi is leaving the programme after six years. Lior Sasson, Israel’s former cultural attaché in Los Angeles, has been named as his replacement and will guide the lab at next year’s Jerusalem Film Festival. During his tenure, Tubi has overseen the lab’s backing of Oscar-winning Son Of Saul, as well as One Week And A Day and Apprentice. “After six years at the Sam Spiegel Lab, where we created one of the most prestigious platforms for young filmmakers, it’s time for me to move on,” says Tubi. “I’m proud of our achievements.” Sasson, who oversaw the Israel Film Pavillion at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and is a member of the Israel Film and TV Producers Association board, says, “It is a great honour and privilege to join this international and professional organisation that Renen [Schorr] and Ifat established.” According to Schorr, director of the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School, the lab’s future is uncertain as from next year it will lose Israel National Lottery funding.


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