The drama surrounding the upcoming government-sponsored film awards continues. Following the announcement last week that multiple nominees had withdrawn from the Culture Ministry’s film awards after Culture Minister Miki Zohar’s vow to make controversial reforms to the Cinema Law, a compromise has been reached, and those who said they would boycott the awards have agreed to take part, according to a joint statement by a public relations firm and producer Moshe Edery, an Israel Prize winner and one of the most successful and prolific producers in Israel.
The statement, which was released Sunday morning, assured the film community that Edery was personally working with the Culture Ministry to regulate the budgets for the years 2025 and 2026, to ensure the continued funding of the craft unions (including the unions for the actors, screenwriters, editors, producers, and directors) and the Israeli Academy for Film and Television, and to continue strengthening Israel’s Cinema Law.
In response to Edery’s intervention, according to the statement, the nominees who had withdrawn their candidacy, among them director Erez Tadmor, actresses Irit Kaplan and Nur Fibek, screenwriter Mindi Ehrlich, editor Einat Glaser-Zarhin, and cinematographer Amit Yasur, had decided to participate in the ceremony. However, their names were not included in the statement.
Edery said he would continue acting “for the benefit of the future of Israeli cinema.”
The new awards from the government are set to be presented on December 30 and will include NIS one million in prize money for the winners. These government awards were created after Zohar expressed his frustration with the Israeli Academy for Film and Television’s decision to give the Ophir Best Picture Award to the pro-Palestinian film, The Sea. In the past week, Zohar made several angry statements about how he would reform Israel’s Cinema Law and several nominees for the government awards announced that they were withdrawing their names from the competition.
THE ISRAELI Academy for Film and Television responded to Edery’s intervention by saying, “The unions support their colleagues in whatever personal decision they have made. It is hoped that the minister will stand by the commitments he gave to the Israel Prize laureate, our colleague Moshe Edery. We are waiting to hear the minister’s position on the matter and will respond accordingly.”
Commitment to Israeli film
Producer Yaki Reisner voiced support for the decision of the nominees to reinstate their names, calling it “an important and responsible step” that reflects a deep commitment to Israeli filmmaking and to maintaining a shared cultural dialogue, even in complex times. Reisner said the choice to return to the ceremony demonstrated a genuine desire to heal divisions and refocus attention on what matters most – the creative work itself, the people behind it, and Israeli audiences.
However, other members of the filmmaking community announced that they would not cancel a planned protest against the government awards. A group of young filmmakers, quoted in a report on N12, said, “The pressure exerted by Zohar on the eight filmmakers who withdrew their nominations from his awards ceremony worked. The minister placed the entire future of the Israeli film budget on the shoulders of the candidates, thus blackmailing them into participating in his ‘state’ ceremony. We understand the decision of the filmmakers, who felt they had a lot to lose… We, the students and young creators, have nothing to lose. We continue our struggle against the minister’s threats; we continue to fight for our profession and the freedom to create – without threats and blackmail. Our demonstration will take place as planned on Tuesday evening, opposite the minister’s ‘state’ ceremony, which is increasingly reminiscent of the Hunger Games. This is our opportunity to make our voices heard, also for
those who are silenced, blackmailed, or afraid. This time it’s on us.”
The ceremony is set to be held at the Jerusalem International Convention Center on Tuesday and will be hosted by actress Moran Atias.