'Don’t lower the curtain on Israeli cinema': Israeli film stars protest gov't reforms

Israel’s top movie stars came together to make a video to protest reforms in the funding of the film industry proposed by Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar, which was released by Oscar-nominated director Joseph Cedar, who made the movies Footnote and Beaufort, and other industry leaders at an event at the Jerusalem Film Festival at the Jerusalem Cinematheque on Sunday evening.

Among those who took part in the video, which is being launched in a campaign with the hashtag #saveisraelicinema, are such stars as Gila Almagor, Sasson Gabay, Dana Ivgy, Suzanna Papian, Noa Koler, Uri Gavriel, Yossi Marshek, Alma Zack, Nelly Tagar, and many others.

In the video, the actors say, “Don’t lower the curtain on Israeli cinema,” insisting that the proposed reforms, which will be voted on soon, will harm thousands of film industry workers and would effectively silence less commercial voices. They call on Zohar not to be a second Miri Regev, the former Israeli culture minister who was known for her antagonistic relationship with the creative community.

Zohar has proposed reforms that will mean that the lion’s share of the money earmarked for Israeli cinema will go to commercial, mainstream movies, and to the highest-profile creators, whose worth will be determined according to box-office data.

Zohar released a statement in response to the video that said, in part: "I am sorry to see a series of talented actors and actresses, who were so grossly misled in favor of a false campaign. I am promoting the film industry to new heights. The film industry in Israel has not risen for several years and I say this with a heavy heart.

"I am aware there are concerns and fears regarding the changes in the existing support test for institutions involved in the field of cinema. However, I suggest that the film professionals first study the changes, which are mainly in the fields of film funds and the chance to assist in the production of Israeli series... The support component for the funds will be based on the number of viewers of the film."

The Creators' Union Forum, which started the campaign, responded to Zohar's statement with a new statement of their own:  "Contrary to what Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar contended in his response to the protest video against the film reform, the talented actors who appeared in it as part of a 'false campaign' are not that stupid, [are not] part of a herd that is being misled, and the false campaign here is not theirs.

"The Israeli cinema is their livelihood... We are not opposed to and afraid of changes... But we are specifically afraid of your reform, which will harm the creation of the diverse and high-quality Israeli films that we all love. This new scoring system will create a very unhealthy competition between film funds, which will lead to cannibalism [of the funds] and the collapse of the industry."

Film professionals have criticized this reform, saying it will give funds to those who need it the least and will silence filmmakers in the periphery and those from disadvantaged and under-represented communities, among them Israeli Arabs, immigrants, and the ultra-Orthodox.

Cedar pointed out, “No one knows what will be commercial in advance.” He also said that the films Zohar wants to prevent are movies that are critical of the government from being shown abroad.

Commercialization 

Adar Shafran, the director of the movie, Running on Sand, said that Zohar claimed he was increasing the budget but that the extra money would only go to highly commercial movies, and said, “Movies can be artistic and still appeal to audiences.” He said that people asked him why commercial movies needed to be funded by the government at all, and explained that the industry is so small and the financial margins so tight, that no movies at all can be made without government assistance.

Katriel Schory, the former longtime director of the Israel Film Fund, recalled that the first time he attended a discussion on the future of Israeli films was at the Histadrut Labor Federation in 1973, but said that this was a time of crisis. “If funding isn’t allocated to films, in a year or two, there will be no Israeli films being released,” he said. He called for creative solutions to be found and said that during the COVID-19 crisis, some European film funds gave complete funding to projects instead of partial funding. Israel has 11 film funds competing for financing, he said, while Germany which has a far bigger industry, only has eight.

The mood of the industry professionals was defiant. “We will fight till the end,” vowed Shafran.