Israeli movies, artful and alluring

 

German-Israeli cinema and film cooperations – a success story

 

Word has finally got around that Israel is a cinematic wonder. It boasts many outstanding films and record audiences at home and has won a host of prizes at international festivals. What is less known is Germany’s strong involvement in this success. For instance, the Oscar-nominated movie “Ajami” (2009) was a German co-production, as were works by important directors such as Samuel Maoz, whose “Lebanon” won the Golden Lion in Venice in 2009, or Keren Yedaya, whose film “Jaffa” was shown in 2009 in Cannes. “Jaffa” was co-produced by the firm Rohfilm located in Berlin and Leipzig, which has many years of experience working with Israeli filmmakers. Ask Rohfilm producer Benny Drechsel about Israeli cooperations and he goes into raptures: “In this small country the size of Hessen there are so many outstanding talents, so many professional specialists in all areas, brilliant crews, some of which can even draw on experience gained from international productions in the1960s.” For Benny Drechsel cooperation with Israel, which in his experience has always been uncomplicated and hitch-free, is also always fascinating as regards the subject matter: “This country with its immense cultural riches is like a pressure cooker that constantly produces exciting, moving stories. These stories have direct relevance for us, partly because of our special relationship to Israel.” In this country, says Drechsel, you immediately feel a special vibe.

 

Rohfilm is already working for the second time with Hagar Ben Asher, an Israeli actress and director who loves to experiment. Following her highly praised film “The Slut” (2011), in early 2015 “The Burglar” was shot, also starring the well-known German actor Ronald Zehrfeld in an important role.   

The co-productions are an important facet of Israeli filmmaking, but by no means the only one. Large sections of the Israeli film scene can be said to have shifted to Germany. Today, documentary film director Nadav Schirman, the man behind the politically explosive film “The Green Prince” (partly shot in Munich and about the anti-terrorism measures in Israel), sponsored by FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, lives in Frankfurt/Main and owns production firm A-List-Films. And Berlin, which is already currently attracting many young Israelis, is alongside Tel Aviv arguably the second centre of Israeli cinematic art.

 

Director Dror Zahavi set the ball rolling very early on with great films addressing recent German history such as “Die Luftbrücke” (The airlift) and “München 72 – das Attentat” (Munich 72 – the attack). After leaving Israel he first went to East Germany to fulfil the wish of his father, an Israeli communist. In 1982 Zahavi began studying at the Babelsberg Film University in Potsdam, graduating in 1987 and then returning to Israel. East Germany seemed like a kibbutz to him and he recalled the open, welcoming reception he received as an exotic foreigner. In 1991 he returned to a united Germany for reasons not all that different from those of today’s Israeli film migrants. Even though the Israeli film scene has long since blossomed artistically, the industry there is still small and by no means offers enough work for everyone. As a city with an affordable cost of living and an international, creative scene, Berlin has not only become a popular place for filmmakers from Israel, but the well-developed German film sponsorship network offers the one or other option for funding projects.

 

Although this migration is naturally a welcome indication of the relaxed relationship young Israelis now have to Germany, the past nonetheless remains an important, often biographical point of reference. “Israel’s third generation is discovering the onetime enemy Germany afresh. It is forming its own opinion of the country of perpetrators,” argues Daniel Saltzwedel from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg. For seven years the film sponsoring firm has financed its own artist-in-residence programme, allowing filmmakers from Israel and Germany to spend three months living and working in the respective other country and getting to know producers and editors and the complicated film funding systems. Currently, Israeli director Roi Werner is developing new material in Berlin.

Israeli director Yael Reuveny has moved to Berlin permanently. It was here over many years that she made her outstanding documentary film “Schnee von Gestern” (Farewell, Herr Schwarz) about her family history, about the traces the Holocaust has left amongst the grandchildren of the perpetrators and victims – an important film of the third generation.

 

Like Reuveny, Israeli student at the Babelsberg Film University Esti Amrami has also settled in Berlin and even started a German-Israeli family. Her semi-autobiographical film debut “Anderswo” (Elsewhere) revolves around the feeling of living between two worlds and plays amusingly with the differences still existing between the two nations. Talented, original directors like them truly enrich the German film scene, contributing their themes and opinions without forgetting their roots, their origins. And that is what makes them so distinctive.

Despite the numerous cooperations and the many filmmakers from Israel who come to Germany, one aspect is still lacking: While Israeli films garner important prizes at festivals at home and in Germany because of their artistic originality, their wonderful actors, their often highly critical, unadulterated view of their own country, they often flop at German cinemas. “That really needs to change,” says Benny Drechsel. “It’s high time for a more open film culture in Germany, more attention for these exciting and moving films, which attract far larger audiences, say, in France than they do here.”