Shout out to Israeli director Joseph Cedar who won the Best Screenplay award @ the Cannes Film Festival today!
Cedar’s latest film Hearat Shulayim (aka Footnote) stars Lior Ashkenazi–best-know for Late Marriage (2001) & Walk on Water (2004)–plus a cast of relative unknowns (that’s “relative” from the perspective of someone who makes it a point to see LOTS of Israeli films).
We put Cedar’s last film Beaufort on our 2007 Twozies List, & in 2008, Beaufort was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
I had the opportunity for an extended chat with Cedar when he came to our Chicago International Film Festival in 2005. (He came to show Campfire, but he was already working on Beaufort).
Here is my review of Beaufort for Jewish Film World as well as reviews of his earlier films Time of Favor & Campfire for the World Jewish Digest.
In 2008, I wrote: “Beaufort is more that just a milestone in Israeli filmmaking, it’s one of the most significant combat films ever made.” I have come to expect great things from Joe Cedar & so far I have NEVER been disappointed!
Joseph Cedar (center) with members of the cast of Beaufort. Cedar received the Berlin International Film Festival’s
Silver Lion for Best Director of 2007 for Beaufort. Photo credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images/NewsCom.
