Last night, the Israel Film Academy Awards, or better known as the Ophir Prize, were held for Israeli films released during the past year. The ceremony deliberately takes place a few months before the announcement of the Academy Award nominations, because the winning Israeli film is defined as the national candidate for the foreign film, and has the potential to be nominated (although in the past decade, Israeli winners have not been able to make their way to the final and limited list of nominees).
The most prominent film of the year (with 12 nominations in various categories) was also the one that finally won the Grand Prize – Close to Me, directed by Tom Nesher. It is the debut film of the 27-year-old Nesher which also won the Best Direction Award. Tom Nesher is the daughter of Avi Nesher, one of the most celebrated and respected directors in Israel (he directed ‘The Band’ and ‘The End of the World to the Left’), and there is no doubt that the cinematic talent passes down in this family.
The film has autobiographical elements of Nesher, which relate to an highly publicized affair in Israel – the death of Ari Nesher, 17, Avi’s son and Tom’s brother, in a hit-and-run accident in Tel Aviv. It soon became clear that the driver was Yitzhak Assafa, a 20-year-old soccer player for the M.S. Ashdod team. The affair became a sensation, and Asapa went to prison for two years, and then continued with his football career. In the film, the main character traces the secret life of her younger brother, who was killed in a car accident.
It is also worth noting the winner of the award for Best Short Film – ‘The Child’ of the late Yahav Weiner, a resident of Kfar Aza who was murdered on the morning of October 7 while protecting his family. The award was given to his widow, the well-known singer Shai-Li Atari. “In the cinema there is no death, it remains after us,” Atari said, “when our films are finished, I will continue to write about you. I would like to dedicate this award to the entire Kibbutz Kfar Aza community, which is still collecting its fragments. We are waiting for our friends to come home.”
Indeed, a film about loss, coping with bereavement and overcoming difficulties, is moat appropriate in order to represent Israel on the international stages that will summarize the past year. We wish the film good luck, and remember that tomorrow – Israeli Cinema Day – Israeli films can be watched at an especially cheap price in cinemas all over the country.
