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Jerusalem welcomes Canadian filmmakers
by Hannah Brown
The Jerusalem Post
July 9, 2006, Sunday
An Oscar nominee and a Cannes prize winner are among Jerusalem Film
Festival's distinguished early arrivals
A friendly unassuming group stopped by the King David Hotel in
Jerusalem on Wednesday night to have dinner with Tourism Minister
Isaac Herzog and a group of Israeli professionals. Nothing unusual
about that except that this group was the Canadian delegation to the
23rd Jerusalem Film Festival and included some of the world's most
distinguished directors actors and producers.
The delegation which will be present at screenings panels and press
conferences includes Festival Achievement Award winners director
Atom Egoyan and producer Robert Lantos. Among Egoyan's best-known
films are Exotica the Oscar-nominated The Sweet Hereafter and Ararat
which will be screened at the festival. Lantos has produced most of
Egoyan's films as well as dozens of others including Sunshine and
the Oscar-nominated Being Julia. Both Egoyan and Lantos are longtime
supporters of the Jerusalem Film Festival and festival founder and
director Lia van Leer who attended the dinner spoke effusively about
their generosity over the years praising Egoyan for donating one
of his first films Family Viewing to the archives of the Jerusalem
Cinematheque after he presented it at the 1988 film festival.
The Hungarian-born Lantos who has lived and worked in Canada for
over 40 years spoke of how he first fell in love with Israel when
he visited the country with the Canadian Maccabiah team in 1969 (he
played on the water polo team). "This group of Canadian filmmakers
wanted to see the reality of Israel today he said.
Another delegation member, director Patricia Rozema (I've Heard
the Mermaids Singing and Mansfield Park, which will be screened
at the festival), was already enthusiastic about Jerusalem stone
architecture, and said she was eager to go on a scheduled walking
tour of the Old City.
Egoyan, who was born to an Armenian family in Cairo but was raised
in Canada, chatted about how he enjoys making contact with the
Armenian community here. He reminisced about meeting a Canadian from
his hometown on his last visit here, and asked questions about the
Israeli film industry as if he were a casual visitor and not one
of the world's most celebrated directors. His wife, actress Arsinee
Khanjian, who has appeared in most of his films and works frequently
these days in France, joked about getting a place card with her son's
name instead of her own.
Documentary filmmaker Simha Jacobovici, who became religious late
in his life and served in the artillery corps of the Israel Defense
Forces, introduced his five children and his wife proudly. His latest
documentary, The Exodus Decoded, an innovative look at the Bible,
was made with the assistance of Titanic director James Cameron and
will also be shown at the festival.
Actress Marie-Josee Croze smiled shyly when she was introduced,
knowing that most Israelis last saw her as a femme fatale involved
in the assassination of an Israeli intelligence officer in Steven
Spielberg's Munich. The actress seemed relieved that at least one
dinner guest also recognized her from her charming comic turn in the
French film Mensonges et Trahisons, as well as from her performance
in The Barbarian Invasions, which won her the best actress award at
Cannes. Director/actor Paul Gross, who made the comic Men With Brooms,
one of the biggest box office hits in Canadian history, stood up and
let his dessert melt so that he could pose for photographs.
No one mentioned the one member of the delegation who dropped out
at the last moment, Sex and the City actress Kim Cattrall. They were
all far too gracious for that, and too busy thanking their hosts and
asking questions about Israel.
But don't say Canadians don't know how to have fun. Although they
had arrived in Israel just a few hours before the dinner and were
scheduled for a long walking tour the next day, after the Israeli
guests departed, quite a few of the Canadians made their way to the
hotel bar, where they had a couple of drinks and watched a little
World Cup soccer.
GRAPHIC: Photo: THE WINNER of the 2003 best actress prize at Cannes
Canadian film star Marie-Josee Croze celebrated the Jerusalem Film
Festival's opening last week with Tourism Minister Isaac Herzog.
(Credit: Debbie Ben Ami Yerushalmy Magazine)
by Hannah Brown
The Jerusalem Post
July 9, 2006, Sunday
An Oscar nominee and a Cannes prize winner are among Jerusalem Film
Festival's distinguished early arrivals
A friendly unassuming group stopped by the King David Hotel in
Jerusalem on Wednesday night to have dinner with Tourism Minister
Isaac Herzog and a group of Israeli professionals. Nothing unusual
about that except that this group was the Canadian delegation to the
23rd Jerusalem Film Festival and included some of the world's most
distinguished directors actors and producers.
The delegation which will be present at screenings panels and press
conferences includes Festival Achievement Award winners director
Atom Egoyan and producer Robert Lantos. Among Egoyan's best-known
films are Exotica the Oscar-nominated The Sweet Hereafter and Ararat
which will be screened at the festival. Lantos has produced most of
Egoyan's films as well as dozens of others including Sunshine and
the Oscar-nominated Being Julia. Both Egoyan and Lantos are longtime
supporters of the Jerusalem Film Festival and festival founder and
director Lia van Leer who attended the dinner spoke effusively about
their generosity over the years praising Egoyan for donating one
of his first films Family Viewing to the archives of the Jerusalem
Cinematheque after he presented it at the 1988 film festival.
The Hungarian-born Lantos who has lived and worked in Canada for
over 40 years spoke of how he first fell in love with Israel when
he visited the country with the Canadian Maccabiah team in 1969 (he
played on the water polo team). "This group of Canadian filmmakers
wanted to see the reality of Israel today he said.
Another delegation member, director Patricia Rozema (I've Heard
the Mermaids Singing and Mansfield Park, which will be screened
at the festival), was already enthusiastic about Jerusalem stone
architecture, and said she was eager to go on a scheduled walking
tour of the Old City.
Egoyan, who was born to an Armenian family in Cairo but was raised
in Canada, chatted about how he enjoys making contact with the
Armenian community here. He reminisced about meeting a Canadian from
his hometown on his last visit here, and asked questions about the
Israeli film industry as if he were a casual visitor and not one
of the world's most celebrated directors. His wife, actress Arsinee
Khanjian, who has appeared in most of his films and works frequently
these days in France, joked about getting a place card with her son's
name instead of her own.
Documentary filmmaker Simha Jacobovici, who became religious late
in his life and served in the artillery corps of the Israel Defense
Forces, introduced his five children and his wife proudly. His latest
documentary, The Exodus Decoded, an innovative look at the Bible,
was made with the assistance of Titanic director James Cameron and
will also be shown at the festival.
Actress Marie-Josee Croze smiled shyly when she was introduced,
knowing that most Israelis last saw her as a femme fatale involved
in the assassination of an Israeli intelligence officer in Steven
Spielberg's Munich. The actress seemed relieved that at least one
dinner guest also recognized her from her charming comic turn in the
French film Mensonges et Trahisons, as well as from her performance
in The Barbarian Invasions, which won her the best actress award at
Cannes. Director/actor Paul Gross, who made the comic Men With Brooms,
one of the biggest box office hits in Canadian history, stood up and
let his dessert melt so that he could pose for photographs.
No one mentioned the one member of the delegation who dropped out
at the last moment, Sex and the City actress Kim Cattrall. They were
all far too gracious for that, and too busy thanking their hosts and
asking questions about Israel.
But don't say Canadians don't know how to have fun. Although they
had arrived in Israel just a few hours before the dinner and were
scheduled for a long walking tour the next day, after the Israeli
guests departed, quite a few of the Canadians made their way to the
hotel bar, where they had a couple of drinks and watched a little
World Cup soccer.
GRAPHIC: Photo: THE WINNER of the 2003 best actress prize at Cannes
Canadian film star Marie-Josee Croze celebrated the Jerusalem Film
Festival's opening last week with Tourism Minister Isaac Herzog.
(Credit: Debbie Ben Ami Yerushalmy Magazine)