Israel is a hotbed of acting and film-making talent. Edna Fainaru profiles the home-grown stars with the potential to make an international impact.
Reymond Amsalem
Actress
A brief appearance in Samuel Maoz’s Lebanon as an Arab woman who loses her family did wonders for Reymond Amsalem on the international scene. Since graduating from acting school eight years ago, she has not stopped working on stage, TV and in movies. A fluent speaker of Hebrew, Arabic, French and English, she has already appeared in a US TV drama and in features including Gavin Hood¹s Rendition and Omri Givon’s Seven Minutes In Heaven. She could follow in the steps of Yael Abecassis, a fellow Israeli actress who has carved out a solid career in France.
Contact Perry Kafri
Hagar Ben Asher
Writer, director, actress, cinematographer
Hagar Ben Asher’s graduation film, Pathways, screened in Cannes Cinefondation and later, as part of her residence work there, she wrote thescript for her first feature, The Slut, reputed to be a sort of Israeli Vivre Sa Vie about a woman who believes she does not deserve to be loved and her relations with a man who tries to save her. Daring and unconventional, Ben Asher has also acted in features (Julia Mia) and TV movies (Ran 4) and was credited as cinematographer on several shorts.
Contact Perry Kafri
Hadar Friedlich
Writer, director, editor
Hadar Friedlich is a graduate of Jerusalem’s Ma’aleh School of Television, Film and the Arts and won awards for her short, Grief. Follow-up Slaves Of The Lord screened in Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes and her feature, Hanna M, is in post. Friedlich writes and edits her films and was the first sraeli to participate in Cannes’ Cinefondation programme.
Contact Hadar Friedlich
Saleh Bakri
Actor
Son of actor Mohammed Bakri, Saleh Bakri made his mark in The Band’s Visit. Blessed with screen presence, he is a likely prospect for an international career if handled correctly. A natural for strong Mediterranean characters, Bakri was crowned Israel’s sexiest man by women’s magazine Motek.
Contact Levia Hon
Danny Lerner
Director
With bigger budgets and better scripts, Lerner could carve himself a David Fincher-type Hollywood career. His debut, Frozen Days, won awards and enthusiastic reviews on his home turf. His follow-up, Kirot starring Olga Kurylenko, showed he can handle action and violence.
Contact Arik Kneller
Michael Moshonov
Actor
A busy working actor, Michael Moshonov has played a wide variety of roles, from the orphaned father in Tehilim, which screened at Cannes in 2008, to the tank driver in Lebanon. Son of actor Moni Moshonov and actress Sandra Sadeh, Moshonov looks like a solid bet for the local market, with distinct possibilities abroad.
Contact Perry Kafri
Bar Refaeli
Actress
A supermodel and covergirl famous for her relationship with Leonardo DiCaprio, Bar Refaeli - whose huge semi-clad posters around Israel raised the ire of the Orthodox community is slowly but surely testing the groundfor an acting career. Having featured in Israeli TV series Pick Up and guested on US shows such as Entertainment Tonight, Refaeli this year sees the release of her first feature, Session, from Israeli director Haim Bouzaglo.
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Eitan Tzur
Director
A prolific television director, Eitan Tzur has been involved in some of the most popular projects made in Israel, including the drama series In Treatment and satirical show The Chamber Quintet. For his first big-screen project, Naomi, he worked with veteran playwright and scriptwriter Edna Mazia. The film is a psychological drama about a university lecturer who suspects his much younger wife of betraying him. He kills her lover but cannot live with the guilt.
Contact Arik Kneller
David Volach
Director
Born in to an Orthodox family, Volach turned his back on religion and made his first feature, the intensely dramatic My Father My Lord, in 2008. It went on to win awards at some of the world’s leading festivals, including Tribeca. Three years later he is still writing his second feature, havingalso taken a small supporting role in Lebanon. His first film displayed a powerful sense of image, a minimalist approach and the capacity to tackle profound themes without compromise.
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