Isaac Zablocki
Israel’s Culture Minister Is Killing Israeli Cinema
Israeli films are sweeping up awards and gaining international acclaim. Miri Regev is doing her best to put an end to that.
It’s Time For Disability Inclusion At The Oscars
20 percent of people in our society have a disability — and yet people with disabilities rarely get considered for mainstream roles.
As Lincoln Plaza Closes, We Must Fight To Keep Arthouse Cinema Alive
Cinemas are struggling to find a place within the new playing field of movie consumption, but we must keep the arthouse experience strong.
7 Israeli Films You Must Watch This Summer
Take a break from the blockbusters and try an unexpected independent or foreign film and help support quality drama.
It’s Not All Politics In Israeli Films
The 5th annual Israel Film Center Festival launches this May with a diverse selection of Israel’s latest hit films.
New Film Reveals The Perils of Jewish Power
Director Joseph Cedar watched the crowd with amazement and then introduced the film by saying that this is exactly the audience he made the film for.
Israel at the Oscars
At this year’s Academy Awards, Israel’s blossoming film industry has two nominations for the Best Documentary Award. In this highly competitive category, Israel is dominating with “The Gatekeepers,” following former chiefs of the Shin Bet, Israel’s secret service operators, who give a tell-all expose of some of the most notorious operations in the West Bank and Gaza. “5 Broken Cameras,” released in the U.S. earlier this year by Kino-Lorber, follows a Palestinian man documenting the peaceful resistance of his Arab village in the West Bank (protesting illegal expansions of territories and land confiscation), and the not so peaceful reactions of the Israeli military.
Debating the Best Israeli Films
With “Footnote” the fourth Israeli film in five years to make it to the shortlist nomination for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film Israel’s recent cinematic prowess is indisputable. Though none of Israel’s total of ten nominations actually won an Oscar there have been many more excellent films to come out of that country and we asked two experts to give us their list of favorites of recent years.
Is Sony Pictures Classics Playing Oscar Favorites?
Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) is one of the leading distributors of foreign and art-house films in America. This year they have three of the five films nominated at the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language film category and chances are SPC is representing the winner. Yet, the only film of the three SPC nominees to get a significant public run is “A Separation.”
Friday Film: From Paris With Love
Isaac Zablocki is the director of film programs at The JCC in Manhattan.