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FRIDAY JULY 10 — SATURDAY JULY 11, 2015
AT JERUSALEM FILM FESTIVAL www.ScreenDaily.com
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Davidoff preps news-crew farce BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW
Israeli director Oded Davidoff is gearing up to shoot his first English-language feature Live From Jerusalem, a farcical comedy revolving around the international media community in the city. The tale of a UK correspondent based in Jerusalem who concocts a hair-brained scheme with his Palestinian cameraman to get out of an assignment to Sudan will go into pre-production after the summer. The English-speaking lead is yet to be cast.
Gurfinkel to be honoured with Child screening
Screenwriter Roy Iddan based the narrative on his own experiences working in the now defunct Fink’s bar — an institution in the city frequented by politicians and journalists for 70 years until it closed in 2005. “A lot of the patrons were foreign journalists,” said Iddan, who was a student at the time. “It was around the time of the Second Intifada, a bad time in Jerusalem. I got to know this strange subculture and carried this idea around for years.” Live From Jerusalem will be
Oded Davidoff
Iddan’s feature debut after co-creating TV series including Bobby & Me, which aired on Keshet, and YES’s Lost In Asia!, winner of the 2013 Israeli TV Academy Award.
Nimrod Weislib
BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW
John Turturro is in Jerusalem with his latest feature, Nanni Moretti’s My Mother, which opened the festival last night in an open-air screening at Sultan’s Pool. Speaking during a tour of the Old City with his wife and son, the actor told Screen : “I’ve always wanted to come to Jerusalem, it’s one of the most fascinating places you could visit.”
Celebrating Aviva Meirom Known throughout her 25 years of work as “Aviva from Jerusalem Cinematheque”, Aviva Meirom was a respected and beloved member of staff in her capacity as office manager. She passed away in November 2014 after a long battle with cancer. “For many years she was the face of the Cinematheque
Laszlo Nemes, page 8
SPOTLIGHT Talent factory Sam Spiegel International Film Lab is making global waves » Page 5
INTERVIEW Laszlo Nemes Son Of Saul’s director on Cannes success and pulling jury duty » Page 8
REVIEW Trainwreck Judd Apatow’s new comedy is an effervescent, spiky delight » Page 10
SCREENINGS Today’s film line-up here at Jerusalem Film Festival » Page 12
Abecassis dons producer’s hat for Sam Spiegel lab projects
BY TOM GRATER
A special screening of Three Days And A Child, Uri Zohar’s 1967 adaptation of the AB Yehoshua short story, will be presented on a digitally restored copy from Jerusalem Cinematheque’s archives to honour cinematographer David Gurfinkel. “We are very proud that we’ve managed to restore one of the most important Israeli films,” said festival director Noa Regev. “It’s a tribute to Gurfinkel, the greatest Israeli cinematographer.” The event, which takes place on July 14, will celebrate Gurfinkel’s illustrious 50-year career, during which he worked on more than 80 titles and won four Israeli Film Academy Awards. Earlier this year, he was awarded the Israel Prize, presented by the government to recognise his lifetime achievement and contribution to Israeli culture. Gurfinkel will attend the screening with special guests including Jerusalem Cinematheque archive manager Meir Russo, Jerusalem Film Fund director Yoram Honig, Israel Film Fund executive director Katriel Schory, Vanessa Lapa of Realworks Production, who collaborated on the restoration, and three of the film’s actors: Oded Kotler, Judith Solé and Germaine Unikovsky.
Davidoff is the creator-director of the Golan Heights-set mystery drama Pillars Of Smoke (Timrot Ashan), which NBC picked up for remake rights. His feature credits include the 2006 drama Someone To Run With. David Mandil of Tel Aviv-based Movieplus Productions is lead producer, with Steve Hudson of Germany’s Gringo Films on board as a co-producer. Iddan will present Live From Jerusalem at the Pitch Point event on Monday at Mishkenot Sha’ananim.
TODAY
alongside Lia van Leer,” said Navot Barnea, monthly programme editor for the Cinematheque. “She was fundamental to this place.” Tribute screenings of The Tales Of Hoffmann will take place on July 13 and 17, with the second followed by a talk with members of Meirom’s family and the festival. Tom Grater
Actress Yael Abecassis, whose credits range from Amos Gitai’s Kadosh to last year’s opening film A Borrowed Identity (formerly Dancing Arabs), hits Jerusalem Film Festival today but not on the big screen. Abecassis will attend the Sam Spiegel International Film Lab’s pitching event to present two feature projects: Aya and Zuzik, which she is producing with Hillel Roseman through their Tel Aviv-based production company Cassis Films. “It was a natural progression to go into production. It’s another angle of the same art,” said Abecassis, who cited French producer Marie Masmonteil and Israeli actress-filmmaker Ronit Elkabetz as inspirations. “It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be,” she
added. “But I want to fight for new voices and talents.” Launched in 2011, Cassis Films has focused mainly on shorts including Aya, which was nominated for an Academy Award this year. Mihal Brezis and Oded Binnun have just completed a new feature-length screenplay, extending the story arc of Aya. The second project, Zuzik, revolves around an Ethiopian man who tries to reconnect with his son, a street prostitute. It will be the second film for director Shalom Hager following his awardwinning 2010 drama Shrouds. Abecassis has not turned her back on acting. She plays a journalist in Gitai’s upcoming Rabin’s Last Day, about the murder of Yitzhak Rabin.
Assassin’s Hou plots his next move BY MATT MUELLER
Fresh from his best director triumph at Cannes with The Assassin, which is set in 9th-century China and marks the Taiwanese master’s first foray into the wuxia martialarts genre, Hou Hsiao-Hsien is planning to return to the modern world with his next, as-yet-untitled, feature. “I will come back to modernday Taipei, but also mix in scenes
of the city during the Japanese occupation,” the director, who is interested in recreating Taipei’s pre-war look, told Screen. “During that time, there were ditches throughout the city for irrigation. They still exist but now they are under our roads.” The Assassin screens today here at Jerusalem Film Festival, with additional showings on July 15 and July 18.