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CultureBy David E. KaplanThe Big PictureIsrael’s Blossomingfilm industryReutersBest at Berlin. Israeli director Joseph Cedar won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 57th international Berlin film festival forhis film ‘Beaufort ‘. It was Israel’s first-ever Best Director Award at the Berlin Film Festival.The inference in the title of Israel’s movie entry at thisyear’s 2012 Oscars, ‘Footnote’, stood in sharp contrast tothe elevated global status of Israeli movies. This film’ssuccess - on the contrary - is a clear indication how far theIsraeli movie industry has emerged.While budgets for local movies have consistentlyover the decades been pitifully paltry, this hasnot prevented Israel surging ahead as a surprisingpowerhouse in the foreign film industry.While ‘Footnote’ lost out this year for an AcademyAward to the Iranian entry,‘Separation’ for Best ForeignLanguage Film, Israelis canfeel proud that it not onlymade it to the top five,but is Israel’s fourth suchnomination in the past fiveyears. Tally the score andIsrael stands alone as havingreceived more nominationsduring that period than anyother country.True, Israeli filmmakers havenot returned home with themuch-coveted gold-platedstatue hence the frequentlament:AND......ACTION! Cameras rolling in a scene from‘Infiltration’ filmed in Jerusalem with the directorDover Kashashvili (second left) and First AssistantDirector Dawn Leuchter (center, with light mauvecap).Spring-Summer 20128“Always a bridesmaid, never a bride”.Nevertheless, there is more to be proud of than to pineover as the industry’s trajectory in recent years hasbeen nothing less than “a remarkable renaissance” asexpressed by the Los Angeles Times.A Question ofTasteThe darling today atinternational film festivals,Israeli movies have come along way from the ‘Bourekas’films - the cheap comicmelodramas of the sixtiesand seventies. The term wassupposedly coined by theIsraeli film director BoazDavidson, the creator ofseveral such films, as a playon-words,after the Italianmade ‘Spaghetti Westerns’.