Channel 1 won't finance Gitai's new film due to his left-wing politics
Panel rejects Israel Broadcasting Authority director general's proposal to finance Amos Gitai's new film on the 2005 Gaza pullout.
By Assaf CarmelThe Israel Broadcasting Authority's Channel 1 television committee on Thursday rejected a proposal seeking to help finance a new film by Israeli director Amos Gitai, citing the filmmaker's left-wing politics and the fact that he lives outside Israel as reasons.
IBA Director General Mordechai Shklar proposed participating in the financing of the controversial director's new film, as well as purchasing for the authority nine of his films for broadcasting on Israeli television. The rejected proposal would have cost at least $200,000.
Gitai's new film "Hitnatkut" (disengagement) is almost complete, and deals with Israel's unilateral pullout from the Gaza Strip in 2005. The film is scheduled to premier next month at the Toronto film festival.
Deputy IBA chair Dorit Inbar said at the television committee's meeting that it is unwise to purchase a finished product, rather than examining the project prior to its execution before deciding whether to finance it.
Inbar raised several other reasons for rejecting Shklar's proposal, among them the desire to spread the IBA's funds among many artists, rather than investing a large sum in one person's work. She also said that Gitai's old films can be purchased at a much lower price than Shklar proposed.
Inbar stressed that it would be inappropriate to purchase the work of an artist who currently resides outside Israel, and had lived abroad for much of his career. Other committee members cited the controversial left-wing nature of many of Gitai's films as a reason to reject the deal.
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Just because an "israeli movie" can be done abroad, because israeli population has a big part of muslim and christian citizen and because Israel is supposed to be a democracy open to the world.
Why would Israel ever finance foreign films? If the IBA is going to be financing films shouldn't it be Israeli films made in Israel by Jews living in Israel.
I'm disappointed ; I thought that Israel was a democracy and that even "leftist" movies could get financed.
When Shklar got the position everyone of the cultural, left wing elite flipped - Shklar is Orthodox...I think he may even be (oh my dear) a Settler! and yet....he was willing to give Gitai the money!!
So, after all this left-wing material (Gitai, Gabi Gazit, etc.), when does the right-wing, religious "settler" Shaklar give us right-wing programming material?
the iba may have the common sense to donate the money to the libi fund promoted even by such a site as haaretz.
it begins to get boring when all of the films made are all about the same thing. when the ideas of the right become fashionable you'll see this film maker jump on the band wagon and begin to make films promoting the right. they are all like sheep, following the tide and dooing nothing origional
Once again the journalism is poor. The story is missing many facts and leaves you asking what was it all about. If it meant that Gitai will not be making a living off the conflict from the pockets of Israeli tax payers then this is good news. the time has come for Israel to let it's left wing money grabbers know that they are not a trough of dumb wealth. The Lefties seeking funds can always tap the Europeans or maybe Cuba for funds. for far too long the documentary makers in Israel have been sucking and feeding off the gov't and it is nice to see that somebody up there has opened there eyes, and has pulled the funding of anti-Israel propoganda.