Avatar – the Israeli angle
Filed under: A New Reality, Art, General, Movies, Pop Culture, Profiles
Wherever you look these days, it’s ‘Avatar’ this and ‘Avatar’ that. I’m sure it’s a spectacular film, and one of these days, I’ll get around to seeing it. For a posting on the film, see Brian’s earlier entry.
As I was sitting with my cornflakes a couple mornings ago, I got to wondering about whether there was any Israeli connection to the James Cameron blockbuster. With the Israeli presence so ubiquitous in Hollywood and in technology, I figured that an Israeli had to have taken part in some aspect of the 3-D visual celebration.
As an exercise, sort of like 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon, I found a list of credits to the film online, and started scrolling down – like in the old days to see if there’s a Jew on the baseball team roster, but this time it was looking for a ‘Mizrahi’, ‘Oded’, or ‘Liav.’
Sure enough, about two thirds of the way down the list of hundreds of names doing countless tasks (what is a chief gaffer anyway?), I came across the heading of Chief Animators, and under that list of some 30 names, there he was – Shahar Levavi. No mistaking him for a Mormon.
A quick search on Google, and I found myself in Shahar’s web site. It turns out that the 34-year-old native of Korazin, a small moshav in the North, has been working as an animator for 11 years in the US, and most recently in New Zealand at Peter Jackson’s studio where he made Lord of the Rings.
It was there, three years ago, that he signed on to be one of the animators for Avatar, after having honed his skills on films like The Chronicles of Narnia and Garfield.
Now, having moved back to Israel and ready to take on the Israeli animation world, Shahar is enjoying the accolades Avatar is receiving around the globe. With an animated achievement like that under her belt, he should be able to write his own ticket.
Nostalgia Sunday – Joseph Bau’s studio
Filed under: Art, General, History and Culture, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture
Tel Aviv, like many cities that are cultural centers, houses many small gems, collections of artwork which are part of modern Israel’s history and should be preserved. Intending to do a write-up on the work of painter, graphic artist, animator, author, poet and publisher Joseph Bau (1920-2002), I logged into the Joseph Bau webiste only to discover that the studio where Bau worked for 40 years may close due to financial difficulties.
The modest studio-cum-museum includes paintings by Bau, commercial advertisements, and corporate logos, including those of “Eskimo Lemon” popsicles, Shekem (the IDF equivalent of the PX), and Israeli movies including: “Kazablan”, “Salah Shabati” and others.
Bau’s remarkable story – some of which was dramatized in the film Schindler’s List – began in Poland. He was a student at the University for Plastic Arts in Krakow when World War II broke out and Jews were sent to Nazi concentration camps. During his internment at the Plashow Concentration camp, Bau fell in love with another inmate, Rebecca. They secretly married when Bau smuggled himself into the women’s camp – their love story inspired a scene in the film.
Bau never lost hope or a sense of humor and it was art that saved his life. At Plashow, and then Gross-Rosen, he worked as a draftsman, lettered signs in Gothic type while secretly forging documents and identity papers. According to his online biography, he saved 400 lives in the process. Bau was later transferred to to Oscar Schindler’s camp where he stayed till the end of the war. Bau then returned to Krakow to complete his university studies and work as a newspaper graphic artists and illustrator.
In 1950 Bau immigrated to Israel with his wife and oldest daughter. According to his biography, “He was recruited to a secret unit of the intelligence corps that dealt with technical covert operations that utilized his talent for art and graphics. Later he was transferred, together with other Intelligence corps personnel to a similar unit that was formed and worked as part of the intelligence community belonging to the Prime Minister’s office. Joseph never spoke of these activities.” One may assume however, that his talent as a forger was also not overlooked.
In 1956 Bau opened his studio in Tel Aviv, where he painted, worked in commercial art (including designing the famous Amisragas logo) and animation, as well as authoring and illustrating a number of humorous books – even one about his experiences during the Holocaust.
Bau’s daughters, Hadasa and Clila, want to continue keeping this special little museum alive to commemorate their father’s life, artistic achievements, and his contribution to the State of Israel. They have started a petition requesting the city of Tel Aviv provide support.
Waltz with Bashir gets Oscar nod and Beirut screening
Filed under: A New Reality, Art, History and Culture, Movies, Pop Culture, War, coexistence
In the same week that saw Waltz with Bashir finally secure a place on the short list of movies nominated for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award, the movie was finally shown to the public in Beirut, where much of it takes place. Waltz with Bashir is officially banned by Lebanon, but through a loophole, a Lebanese multimedia war archive organization called UNAM was able to show the movie to a modest crowd of 90 at a “private party,” a piece in Variety reports.
Already a bona fide marvel for the innovative manner in which it melds documentary footage with animated dreamscapes, Ari Folman’s tour de force garnered acclaim on the international festival circuit before winning a Golden Globe earlier this month.
As of late last week, Bashir is one of five finalists for that Oscar, nominated alongside offerings from Austria, Germany, France and Japan, with the winner to be announced at the award ceremony on February 22. Following Beaufort’s nomination a year ago, Bashir making the short list of Foreign Language Oscar nominees means that two Israeli movies focusing on the IDF’s role in Lebanon have received Oscar nods in as many years.
Folman himself is generally skeptical that Bashir is in a position to make a difference in the world, telling the international press on numerous occasions that he sees war as an unfortunate fixture. On the other hand, now that his movie has screened in Beirut, he has modified his stance. “In principle I don’t believe movies can change the world, but I’m a great believer in their ability to form small bridges,” Folman told Haaretz in the context of that newspaper’s coverage of the Beirut screening.
Small bridges of coexistence and peace indeed. The movie has already been shown in Ramallah and may soon receive a modest theatrical release in the gulf states, according to the Haaretz article, and last Saturday’s screening in a Beirut suburb was not simple to arrange either. The UMAM organization’s leadership is proud to have accomplished what it has with the Israeli movie:
“The subject of this film is a crucial moment in the history of Lebanon, for the history of Israel, for the history of the Palestinians, and for the history of Palestinian life in Lebanon,” UMAM founder Monika Borgmann told Haaretz.
“At some point every state must deal with its violent past and the sooner it does so the better. That’s why I think this movie should be shown,” she said.
“Yesterday, my phone didn’t stop ringing…everyone wants a copy of the film,” she said. “I think it comes out on DVD in March. The next day, it’s going to be pirated all over Lebanon.”
Golden Globe for Waltz with Bashir
The innovative retro-animated documentary Waltz with Bashir won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film yesterday in California, and director Ari Folman did not miss the opportunity to reflect on the poignancy of the victory from the podium.
It’s a big deal when any Israeli film wins a big international award, regardless of how many it won in the past or how much buzz there is over the possibility of an Oscar nod when the nominations are announced in about two weeks.
But with an ongoing conflict in Israel’s south making for a parallel media war battling over the opinion of the world’s citizens, an Israeli victory in Hollywood becomes even more significant – especially given the movie’s introspective soldier’s experience narrative.
The Jerusalem Post today sums up Folman’s acceptance speech thusly:
Folman thanked his team and his wife and dedicated the award to the babies born to his team members over the four years during which the film was made.
Expressing his wish to see peace arrive in the war-torn Middle East, Folman said he hoped one day these babies will regard the film and the war it describes as an old video game with which they had nothing to do.
Sadly, war’s status as hell is a timeless theme, one which speaks to the Israeli experience far more than it ought to, and The Hollywood Reporter managed to get Folman talking about it even more behind the scenes, and thankfully, with a tinge of optimism:
Folman was a man of few words backstage but did say he is sad that his film, about conflict in the Middle East, is relevant in light of the current Gaza incursions. “Unfortunately, this film is always relevant,” he said. “It has only one major statement (one of anti-war). It was relevant two years ago (when I began making it), and it’s still now.” Folman said he hopes for the best for that part of the world. “I am very optimistic (for peace), or I wouldn’t have done this,” he said. “It’s a matter of leadership: A time will come that both sides will have clever leaders who will work it out.”
Image courtesy fuxoft from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.
Israeli rock band animates YouTube
Filed under: Art, General, Movies, Music, Pop Culture, design
An Israeli animation is now creating a buzz on the Net. It got 160,000 views in just two weeks, and a special review at Aniboom – the world’s biggest animation site. It was also featured on YouTube Spain, Mexico, Ireland, Netherlands and Israel.
It’s an animation music video for the Israeli alternative rock band, Eatliz. Called “Hey”, the 3D animation took almost two years to make, with a crew of 15 animators.
The project is the brainchild of Guy Ben-Shetrit, a freelance animator who has worked for commercials, TV programs and computer games. Ben-Shetrit is the founder and composer of Eatliz, wrote the featured song, directed the movie, and was the lead animator. (He quit his job and took a year off work to complete the project.)
The video, which is going to be featured in the next issues of animation and design DVD magazines Stash and IDN, is a weird Sci-Fi fantasy journey taken by a little girl and her special pet friend, a huge toad.
This is the second animation music video by Eatliz – the first “Attractive” was directed by Yuval and Merav Nathan. The film won Best animation category in Israel’s annual animation festival, Asif.
Enjoy.
Motion or lack thereof in stop motion
Filed under: General, History and Culture, Pop Culture
Recent developments in the world of Israeli comics and animation have begun to make experts wonder just how big the scene is here, and how much potential it has for growth.
The retro-animated 1982 Lebanon War-themed documentary Waltz with Bashir, which spent four years in production in Israel, Germany and France, turned many heads at Cannes this summer.
Next month, Waltz with Bashir screens at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival, as does $9.99 (pictured), a feature film debut for director/animator Tatiana Rosenthal with Geoffrey Rush serving as voice talent. The movie is based on an Etgar Keret story, the author’s canon having inspired many successful film projects lately.
One blogger wonders if the hype might be nothing but hot air:
There are no animated features produced in Israel. So how could it be that two of the first animated theatrical features made in Israel in over four decades are now getting their premieres at the Toronto Film Festival?
For those not in the know, it may seem that Israel is an animation empire, but the ironic fact is that the two animated movies to be shown next month in Toronto are actually almost the only animated features ever produced over here and their simultaneous premiere is nothing short of a cosmic fluke.
But there’s simply too much going on in the field to consider the buzz completely unwarranted.
Earlier this month, a major Animation, Comics and Caricatures Festival, the eighth such event, took place at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, drawing international industry guests.
Alternative retailer The Third Ear launched its own comics publishing house recently. Domestic popularity and output of graphic novels seems to be growing. Even smaller arts institutes like Sderot’s Sapir College are impressively getting into the animation education game. Aiming to serve as a YouTube for animation that also offers industry connections, Israeli startup Aniboom has recently hosted high-profile campaigns like the band-sanctioned Radiohead In Rainbows video remix contest.
With “flukes” like these, who needs proper trends?
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