Science Fiction Takes Off in Israel

Image by Daniel Tchetchik

By Boaz Cohen December 21, 2011

Crossposted from Haaretz

Image by Daniel Tchetchik

Uri Aviv wonders who could imagine a science fiction film coming out of Israel. Yet among the country’s film buffs and science fiction geeks, expectations are high for Ari Folman’s upcoming adaptation of Stanislaw Lem’s book “The Futurological Congress.”

The movie is not a one-off. After years of wandering in the desert, science fiction and fantasy are once again taking off in Israel. The film “Twilight 4,” for example, was a tremendous box office success and sales of fantasy books in Israel have increased fourfold in the past five years. Leprechaun, a new journal of science fiction and fantasy, began coming out on the first of November this year.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO