Event
Avi Nesher
Avi Nesher's award-winning films have played a major part in Israeli cinema's rise to prominence during the last decade. During that period, remarkably enough, four Israeli movies were nominated for Best Foreign Picture. During that era Nesher was singled out and honored several times as one of Israel's all-time greatest filmmakers. In 2008, Nesher received the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival. In 2009, he received the Cinematic Excellence Award at the Haifa Film Festival and a star on the Avenue of the Stars, an honor rarely bestowed on directors. In 2010 Nesher received the prestigious Landau Award for Excellence in the Arts. That year, Nesher's The Matchmaker won the Silver Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival. The Matchmaker was nominated for nine Israeli Academy Awards (including Best Picture) and won three, including Best Actor and Best Actress. In 2007, Nesher's The Secrets also premiered as an official selection at the Toronto Film Festival. In 2005, Nesher directed the highly experimental political documentary Oriental, which won the Spirit of Freedom Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival. In 2004, Nesher wrote and directed Turn Left at the End of the World, -- a surreal deconstruction of Israel's immigration mythology. Turn Left became Israel's biggest box office success, as well as becoming one of the best reviewed films of the era. It was nominated for eight Israeli Academy Awards and won three. Nesher's earlier credits also include many films of note. His very first film, The Troupe was a controversial hit that shocked the Israeli establishment and has gone on to become an Israeli cult classic. Following his auspicious debut, Nesher wrote and directed Rage and Glory, which tells the controversial story of a Jewish terror organization during the 1940s. After seeing Rage and Glory, producer Dino De Laurentis convinced Nesher to come to Hollywood. Consequently Nesher wrote and directed the sci-fi mystery Timebomb and Doppelganger.
@ 1:30-3:00pm in 111 Annenberg School | Master Class
In this Master Calls, Avi Nesher focuses on the techniques, approches and asthetic of filmmaking from concept to screen. Examples from Nesher's films will demostrate his practice.
@ 5:00-8:00pm in 401 Fisher-Bennett Hall | Screening followed by Q&A w/ Avi Nesher
Roger Ebert’s review of THE SECRETS : Click here.
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These events, free and open to the public, have been made possible thanks to the support of University of Pennsylvania’s Cinema Studies Program, Jewish Studies Program, and Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations Department.