The Berlin International Film Festival, otherwise known as the Berlinale, is considered one of the most important film festivals in the world. At the last Berlinale, two Israeli films were awarded top prizes in the Peace Film and Glass Bear categories.
The film August ? A Moment Before the Eruption, directed by Avi Mugrabi, won the Peace Film Prize, with a purse of EUR 5,000. The film portrays Israeli society during the hottest summer month, highlighting tensions and conflict, creating what the award committee called ?a mad picture of a time ?a moment before the eruption.?? Mugrabi?s vehicle combines satirical scenes, theater and documentary images of everyday life to create an ?iridescent and neurotic? picture. The committee said that the ?film succeeds in improving our understanding of the current situation.?
Another Israeli film, Mabul (?Flood?), received the Crystal Bear Award for best short film at the Festival. Recipients of the Crystal Bear Award are selected by a panel of eleven boys and girls, between the ages of 11 and 14, from Berlin. This panel said about Guy Nativ?s Mabul, ?This film from Israel impressed us greatly in all ways. Its two convincing actors, Itay Shore and Tomer Ben David, got the film?s contents across so well that they really got under our skin.?
The film August ? A Moment Before the Eruption, directed by Avi Mugrabi, won the Peace Film Prize, with a purse of EUR 5,000. The film portrays Israeli society during the hottest summer month, highlighting tensions and conflict, creating what the award committee called ?a mad picture of a time ?a moment before the eruption.?? Mugrabi?s vehicle combines satirical scenes, theater and documentary images of everyday life to create an ?iridescent and neurotic? picture. The committee said that the ?film succeeds in improving our understanding of the current situation.?
Another Israeli film, Mabul (?Flood?), received the Crystal Bear Award for best short film at the Festival. Recipients of the Crystal Bear Award are selected by a panel of eleven boys and girls, between the ages of 11 and 14, from Berlin. This panel said about Guy Nativ?s Mabul, ?This film from Israel impressed us greatly in all ways. Its two convincing actors, Itay Shore and Tomer Ben David, got the film?s contents across so well that they really got under our skin.?