New Israeli film on Lebanon War makes it to Venice Film Festival

Venice Film Festival representatives on Thursday announced that Israeli filmmaker Shmulik Maoz's film "Lebanon" had made the list of 15 movies that will compete for the Golden Lion prize, the Silver Lion, and Best Director.

Making the festival is no mean feat for Maoz, who joins a very short-list of directors whose first film has been exhibited in the official competition. The film's Israeli actors Yoav Donat, Itay Tiran, Oshri Cohen, Michael Moshonov, Zohar Strauss, and Dudu Tasa will all compete for Best Actor.

Like "Beaufort" and "Waltz with Bashir", two of the more prominent Israeli films of the last decade, "Lebanon" is based on events that took place in the first Lebanon War. Maoz, who wrote and directed the film, served in the war as a combat soldier.

Nearly the entire film takes place in the cramped quarters of an Israel Defense Forces tank, where the film's four main protagonists are situated. Several characters join them, including the commander of the infantry unit that accompanies the tank, a Syrian prisoner, and a soldier from the IDF-allied Phalangist sect, who is called on to rescue the tank crew from distress.

"It excites me to the point of tears", Maoz said Thursday. "It turns out that the Israeli movies that deal with the Lebanon War attain interest and resonance across the world. It is a movie about my personal war memories. The actors, my production partners, and I made the movie in a mighty effort and with the deepest love, and the international acclaim that we attained strengthens us and warms our hearts".

Katri Shchori, CEO of the Israel Film Fund said Thursday that, "The fact that the director of the Venice Film Festival, Marco Müller, one of the most powerful men in the world cinema scene, chose an Israeli movie for the competition when in many years not one Israeli film was accepted, proves that the worldwide success of the Israeli cinema is not incidental, but a proven fact".

The film will be screened between the 2nd and 12th of September, after a red carpet gala opening. The following day, a press conference is expected to take place featuring the director and the actors.

The Venice Film Festival is considered one of the three most important film festivals in the world alongside Cannes and Berlin. The festival that concludes the biennial in Venice is also the oldest of the three, and the only one, according to the claims of many film critics, that succeeded to preserve its unique style throughout the years.