Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

has submitted films for the

Academy Award for Best International Feature Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

since 1964. Despite its relatively small film-making industry, ten Israeli films have been nominated for the Foreign Language Oscar, placing it in the Top Ten most nominated countries of all time. However, as of 2022, no Israeli film has ever won the coveted award. Since 1991, the Israeli

Ophir Award The Ophir Awards ( he, פרס אופיר), colloquially known as the Israeli Oscars or the Israeli Academy Awards, are film awards for excellence in the Israeli film industry awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. The award, named ...

winner for Best Film is automatically designated the Israeli submission for the Oscar. In 2007, ''Aviva My Love'' and '' Sweet Mud'' tied for the award, necessitating a second round of voting which resulted in the submission of ''Sweet Mud''. In 2008 ''

The Band's Visit ''The Band's Visit'' ( he, ביקור התזמורת, Bikur Ha-Tizmoret) is a 2007 comedy-drama film, directed and written by Eran Kolirin, and starring Saleh Bakri, Ronit Elkabetz, Sasson Gabai and Uri Gavriel. It is an international co-pro ...

'' won the Ophir Award for Best Film but was disqualified by

AMPAS The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

for containing too much English dialogue. The runner-up '' Beaufort'' was submitted in its place, resulting in Israel's first Oscar nomination in 23 years. The most successful Israeli director is this category is

Moshé Mizrahi Moshé Mizrahi ( he, משה מזרחי; 5 September 1931 – 3 August 2018) was an Israeli film director. Biography He was born in Egypt, migrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1946, and studied filmmaking in France in 1950. He directed the Oscar- ...

who received two Oscar nominations representing Israel, and whose 1977 film ''

Madame Rosa ''Madame Rosa'' (french: La vie devant soi) is a 1977 French drama film directed by Moshé Mizrahi, adapted from the 1975 novel ''The Life Before Us'' by Romain Gary. It stars Simone Signoret and Samy Ben-Youb, and tells the story of an elderly ...

'' won the Oscar, representing

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Ephraim Kishon Ephraim Kishon (: August 23, 1924 – January 29, 2005) was a Hungarian-born Israeli author, dramatist, screenwriter, and Academy Award, Oscar-nominated film director. He was one of the most widely read contemporary satire, satirists in Israel, ...

represented Israel twice, and was nominated both times.

Joseph Cedar Yossef (Joseph) Cedar (Hebrew: יוסף סידר; born August 31, 1968) is an Israeli film director and screenwriter. Biography Cedar was born to an Orthodox Jewish family in New York City. His father is biochemist Howard Cedar. When Joseph was ...

and Savi Gavison have represented Israel in the competition three times each, and Cedar was nominated twice.

Submissions

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film since 1956. The Foreign Language Film Award Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films. Following this, they vote via

secret ballot The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...

to determine the five nominees for the award. Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Israel for review by AMPAS for the Foreign Film Oscar along with the year of the submission and the year of the respective Academy Award ceremony. In most of the Israeli submissions, the majority of the dialogue was in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. Films which notably used another language as a primary spoken language are ''The Glass Cage'' and '' Moments'' ( French), ''

Late Marriage ''Late Marriage'' ( he, חתונה מאוחרת, ''Hatuna Meuheret'') is a 2001 Israeli film directed by Dover Kosashvili. The film centers on Zaza (Lior Ashkenazi, in his breakthrough role), the 31-year-old child of tradition-minded Georgian Je ...

'' (

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

) and ''

Ajami ''Ajam'' ( ar, عجم, ʿajam) is an Arabic word meaning mute, which today refers to someone whose mother tongue is not Arabic. During the Arab conquest of Persia, the term became a racial pejorative. In many languages, including Persian, Tu ...

'' (the local dialect of

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

). Many others, including ''Yana's Friends'' and ''Saint Clara'', feature a heavy dose of

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

. The missing years are those in which no film was submitted by Israel.

Notes

References

External links

The Official Academy Awards DatabaseIMDb Academy Awards Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:List of Israeli Submissions for the Academy Award For Best Foreign Language Film

Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

Submissions

See also

Notes

References

External links