Movie wins $25,000 prize
The $25,000 prize for the best Israeli feature film or documentary screened at the recent AICE Israeli Film Festival held in Melbourne and Sydney has been announced.
ISRAELI filmmakers Barak and Tomer Heymann have won the $25,000 prize for the best Israeli feature film or documentary screened at the AICE Israeli Film Festival held in Melbourne and Sydney last month.
Their film, Who’s Gonna Love Me Now?, is the story of Saar, an openly gay man and his efforts to reconcile his sexuality with his traditional religious Jewish family.
Israeli Film Festival director Richard Moore, who was one of the judges along with Dr Dvir Abramovich, film critic Jan Epstein and Los Angeles-based producer Howard Rosenman, says: “Our guiding principle was to award the prize to a film that best reflected the state of Israel as a vibrant and active democracy.
“Who’s Gonna Love Me Now? is a fine example of a film industry capable of engaging in a mature debate about homosexuality: it’s also remarkable in the context of other Middle Eastern countries where even a hint of homosexual practice will be severely punished.”
AICE founder and chairman Albert Dadon says the introduction of the competition and prize money continues AICE’s longstanding commitment to the Israeli film industry.
Heymann Brothers Films has been making documentary films and series for more than a decade, including the recent hit film Mr Gaga, about Ohad Naharin, the artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company.
REPORT by Danny Gocs
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