Nominated films for Ophir prize include short docs dealing with October 7 atrocities
Nominees include dark comedies, drama about life in Bedouin city and documentaries about Hamas hostages and Nova desert rave
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
The Israeli Academy of Film and Television announced its nominations for the 2024 Ophir Awards, the local version of the Oscars, with a noted emphasis on the ongoing war and the Hamas attack of October 7, particularly among the short documentary films.
The annual ceremony will take place on October 16 in the Tel Aviv Expo auditorium with a live stream on the entertainment show “Good Evening with Guy Pines.”
Dozens of films vied for nominations in 18 categories.
In the feature film category, Tom Nesher, daughter of renowned Israeli director Avi Nesher, received the most nominations, 12 in total, for her debut film, “Come Closer,” which won first prize in the Tribeca Film Festival’s “Viewpoints” competition in June.
Filmmaker Maya Kenig received 11 nominations for her film, “The Milky Way,” a dark comedy about a new mother working at a dairy for breast milk which has been acquired by Greenwich Entertainment for North American distribution.
Bedouin filmmaker Yousef Abu Madegem won eight nominations for “Eid,” his film about a construction worker from Rahat, Israel’s largest Bedouin city.
Abu Madegem, the first Bedouin filmmaker to receive Ophir nominations, worked on the film for a decade. He won the top film prize for “Eid” at the Jerusalem Film Festival competition in July.
The war against Hamas, the ongoing pain over the remaining hostages in Gaza, the massacres in the Gaza border communities and the horrors of the Supernova desert rave are central to several of the nominated short documentaries.
Ben Shani’s “Table for Eight,” tells the story of three-year-old Avigail Idan, whose parents were both killed as she was taken hostage from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, before being released at the end of November.
The film “Screams Before Silence,” led by businesswoman Sheryl Sandberg, was directed by Anat Stelansky, looks into the sexual crimes committed by Hamas terrorists on October 7.
“#Nova,” by Dan Pe’er, was made from terrifying video footage made by Nova survivors and victims on October 7, as well as footage from Hamas terrorists released on social media.
There’s also “The Boy” by filmmaker Yahav Winner, who was killed at Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7.
Other nominated feature films include Lee Gilat’s “Girls Like Us,” about a girl from a broken home who falls in love with the counselor at the youth-at-risk institution where she’s been assigned.
Sophie Artus’ “Halisa,” is about a nurse played by Noa Koler, who has been trying to get pregnant and ends up being gifted with the baby from one of the young women in her care.
