It was the year of the woman at Israel’s Ophir Awards on Sept. 21, as two films by and about the specific problems of Israeli women — and the universal issues of women everywhere — captured the lion’s share of the major awards.
“Gett: The Trial of Vivian Amsalem,” co-directed by Ronit Elkabetz (who also starred in the film) and her brother Shlomi Elkabetz, took home the Best Picture Award in a ceremony that was held for the first time ever in Ashdod, as a gesture of support for the cities of the South and their suffering in the recent war.
Talya Lavie’s “Zero Motivation,” a black comedy about women soldiers that has been compared to Robert Altman’s 1970 hit “Mash,” won the most Ophir Awards — six in all.
“Gett” will have its U.S. premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival. It screens 7:30 p.m. Oct. 6 at the Sequoia 2 in Mill Valley and 6 p.m. Oct. 8 at the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael.
The winner of the Ophir Award, the prize given by the Israel Academy of Film, automatically becomes Israel’s nominee for the Academy Award’s best foreign language film.
“Gett” is an indictment of Israel’s misogynistic divorce laws, shown through one woman’s struggle to divorce a husband she no longer loves. This is the third film in a trilogy that the Elkabetz siblings based loosely on their family’s own story. “Gett” is set entirely in court, as the wife pleads with her husband and the judges for years to get a divorce.
“Gett” also won the award for Best Supporting Actor for Sasson Gabai, for his performance as a rabbi representing his brother before the court.
“Zero Motivation” garnered awards for best director and best screenplay, as well as best music, casting, editing and best actress (Dana Ivgy).
The film, which screened at this year’s San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, is one of a handful of movies to put women soldiers front and center. — jerusalem post