Israeli teen drama about Holocaust trip to Poland nominated for International Emmy
‘Kol Od Balevav’ (‘Memory Forest’), which explores questions of how to remember the Nazi atrocities generations later, is one of five series nominated in Kid: Live-Action category
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
“Kol Od Balevav” (“Memory Forest”), a Kan educational drama series about an Israeli teen trip to Poland, was nominated Tuesday for an International Emmy in the Kids: Live Action category.
The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced 56 nominees across 14 categories and spanning 20 countries. Winners will be announced on November 20 at the 51st International Emmy Awards Gala in New York City.
The Kan original drama was screened in Israel on Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 24, 2023. It won the award for the best scripted series for youth at the BANFF World Media Festival, Rockie Awards International in June.
In “Kol Od Balevav,” two Israeli teens meet on a Holocaust educational trip to Poland. Shani is a cynical kid from Herzliya who has a hard time connecting to this journey, while Kobi is from a more traditional, Zionist home in the northern town of Karmiel.
During the course of the trip, the two become romantically involved, despite the disapproval of their trip leader who doesn’t feel the emotional journey is the right time or place for teenage drama.
Produced and filmed in Poland, the series includes scenes that take place in the Treblinka extermination camp, the Warsaw Ghetto and Lublin.
It’s a series that deals with questions of how to remember the Holocaust, through the experiences of third and fourth generations, stories of youth and how they think about this painful portion of Jewish history.
