Directing
Thirteen years after his death, the great Yossi Banai comes to life for one final encore. A cinematic memoir pieced together from numerous archival materials - films, plays, radio shows, songs and stage performances - this personal documentary is led by Banai's deep iconic voice. An actor, singer, writer and director, Banai represented the pure essence and contradictions of Israeli culture: an atheist from a religious family, a native that insisted on importing European motives and a consensual Israeli figure that wasn't afraid to take a political stand. From childhood to death, through love, family and life on the stage, Yossi Banai directs the spotlight on to his own image.
Dizengoff Center, the first shopping center in Israel, has become a phenomenon, an icon, a city within a city. “The Center” is more than a shrine for consumption or a shopping place, for many people it’s a place they call “a home”. The Center will discover the story and the history of Dizengoff Center, layer by layer, from the ground it was built on, to the top floor and the secrets this place withholds. The film will travel from the past to the present in order to try and find out what makes this place so special.
Shoshana Damari was the first Israeli diva. She graced local and international stages, stirring millions with her beguiling voice and spectacular performance. Yet behind the larger-than-life persona and her memorable songs was a woman about whom we know little. She didn’t like to be interviewed and never volunteered details about herself and her family. Hers was the life of a Hollywood legend and she paid the price for it. This is a story about fame and loneliness, acclaim and loss, daring and compromise. For the first time, the woman behind the crown, the cloak and the palace will come to light.
Although he spent most of his life fighting ethnic discrimination, Yosef Shiloach is best remembered by the public for his comedic roles in Bourekas films. Yet behind the clownish image that clung to him was a deep, complex, and courageous artist who sought to change Israeli reality. He met with Yasser Arafat in his office and fought for peace—actions that ultimately forced him to leave the country. Shiloach was also a prolific writer—of songs, poems, screenplays, and more. Through his writings and rare, personal footage filmed by his daughter, we gain insight into the inner world of a man who began supporting his family at age nine and became one of Israel’s greatest actors.
Yeshayahu Leibowitz was an iconoclastic philosopher, scientist, social critic, and Orthodox Jew. For the first time since his death, a full-length documentary series on this great man, whose words are still alive, provocative, and ever so relevant to the fate of Israel.
“All my movies are personal without being autobiographical,” says Avi Nesher, a filmmaker who combines his personal life and the history of Israel in his films. This documentary examines the DNA of Nesher’s cinematic creations , which include musicals, dramas, and comedies, chronicling the homeland in which he started his career at the age of 24 and where he continues to create at 71.
