A film produced by students of an Israeli high school in Ohr Akiva has won First Prize in an international competition of student films in Hollywood.
The winning film, Fathers, beat out 250 other movies produced by students from all over the world. The judges stated at the Sunday night prize-awarding ceremony that Fathers "stood out above all the rest, and was the most qualitative of all."
The film was directed by Gur Morad and Ofir Carmi, students in the film department of Ohr Akiva's Atidim (Futures) High School. Ohr Akiva is located some 30 kilometers south of Haifa.
Fathers, produced in Hebrew with English subtitles, tells the story of a high school student named Alon who is performs a "community service" assignment in an old age home. He meets up with an elderly Holocaust survivor who does not speak much, and Alon tries various methods to get him to open up. As the relationship develops, the two find that they have much more in common than they ever could have dreamt.
Atidim's principal Ettie Laredo (the name is of Sephardic descent) told IsraelNationalNews, "We are very excited and proud over this win. We have a very special film department here, staffed with real professionals, and this prize is just the latest in a series of awards that we have won."
Most recently, she said, their film "Early Wedding" won a regional prize. The film deals with the local phenomenon of certain communities marrying off their daughters at a relatively early age.
Mayor's Blessing
Ohr Akiva's Mayor Simcha Yosefov congratulated the students, saying, "This is a significant achievement that brings great pride to our city."
Young director Morad, speaking from Hollywood, said, "We are still excited about it and can barely believe it. This really puts us on the film-making map in Israel and around the world."