CultureDistribution Award at the 2010 <strong>Jerusalem</strong> Film Festival.”Set in the early 1950s, the story follows the lives ofconscripts in a three-month boot camp. Rather thanpreparing for war against a foreign foe, the battle hereis of young men at the bottom end of the social ladderwho dream of ascending to the top. The characters -Ashkenazim, new immigrants from North Africa andEurope, holocaust survivors, secular and religious men –find themselves on the extreme margins of society, andtheir battle is for personal survival, status and identity.Dawn’s next set as First Assistant Director was on the hitseries Hatufim, which won the Best Drama series by theIsraeli Academy for Television in 2010. The acclaimed‘Homeland’ series in the States hailed as “one of the bestshows to hit the small screen” is based on Hatufim. TheIsraeli series traces what happens when two soldiers in theIsrael Defense Forces return after being held captive bySyria for seventeenyears. The Americanversion featuresClaire Danes as aCIA officer whotracks a US Marine(actor DamienLewis) who shesuspects has beenturned into a spyafter being held asa prisoner by al-Qaida.This is not the firstIsraeli TV show tobe snapped up byHollywood.HBO bought ‘InTreatment’ (BeTipulin Hebrew), whichArt director & illustrator: David Polonskywent on to win numerous industry awards.The Israelitelevision drama revolves around the personal andprofessional life of an Israeli psychologist, ReuvenDagan - played by Assi Dayan, son of the famed MosheDayan - who treats patients at his clinic five days a weekand then seeks psychological treatment for himself.Hagai Levi, the co-creator of the original show, is one ofthe executive producers on the American versionFollowing the American adaptation which premiered inJanuary 28, 2008 starring Gabriel Byrne as Dr. Paul Weston,the equivalent character to Reuven Dagan, the serieshas caught on throughout Europe with HBO producinglocal versions in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic,Slovakia, Romania and Moldovia with Hagai Levi servingas executive producer. It has also been adapted by othernetworks in Serbia, Slovenia and the Netherlands.As the saying goes, “there is no better form of flattery thanimitation” and this series – BeTipul - is a shining example.Spring-Summer 201214Tables TurnedWhile Israel had been mostly at the receiving end ofAmerican cultural imports in the live television genre -particularly reality shows like ‘Survivor’, ‘Amazing Race’,‘The Bachelor’, ‘American Idol’, and more recently ‘TheVoice’, to name but a few - it’s no longer all one waytraffic.In December 2011, NBC’s ‘Who’s Still Standing?’ whichhas contestants dropping through the floor, made itsAmerican debut as the first Israeli quiz show to find itsway to the States.“Who’s Still Standing?” has been sold to thirteencountries including Spain, Hungary and France sinceLisa Shiloach-Uzrad created the show in 2010 with AmitStretiner. The duo are also the creative team behind “TheFrame”, a reality show hybrid of “Big Brother” and “TheAmazing Race” thathas sold in thirtycountries and isdue to make its wayto the CW Networkin the United Statesin 2012. “TheFrame”, developedspecifically forinternationalaudiences, featureseight coupleswho live in smallrooms around theclock for all to see.Confronting dailychallenges, theaudience votes offthe least popularcouple. “You seelots of reality shows where you take people out of theirnatural environment and put them into a fantasy land. Inthis case we said, what can be more intense than beingclosed in with your partner for six to eight weeks in avery small space?” Shiloach-Uzrad said.Twenty years after Israeli television broke away from itsone channel model of mostly news, and British or USdrama imports, young local producers are making theirmark internationally.Elsewhere, apart from Showtime’s criticallyacclaimedpsychological thriller “Homeland” whichhas its creative roots in Israel, HBO is making a USversion of Israeli crime drama “The Naked Truth”.“We have to work with low budgets. This means youreally have to find smart and creative solutions to makethings work,” said Shiloach-Uzrad.“With scripted shows, you have to lean on high qualitywriting and good acting and great characters becauseRevisiting a Dark Past. The eerie and ominous opening scene from the2008 animated documentary film ‘Waltz with Bashir’, written and directedby Ari Forman.
Art director & illustrator: David PolonskySeeking Truth. ‘Waltz with Bashir’ depicts the director Ari Forman (seen here) in search of his lost memories from the 1982 LebanonWar. The film won a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, a NSFC Award for Best Film, a César Award for BestForeign Film and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.Spring-Summer 201215
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