The Ophir Awards (Hebrew: פרס אופיר), full name: the Israel Film Academy Award, sometimes also known as The Israeli Oscars or the Israeli Academy Awards, are film awards for excellence in the Israeli film industry awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. The award, named after Israeli actor Shaike Ophir, has been granted since 1990.
| Ophir Award | |
|---|---|
 Tzachi Halevy and Yuval Scharf (right) hosting the 2019 Ophir Awards | |
| Awarded for | Best in film |
| Country | Israel |
| Presented by | Israeli Academy of Film and Television |
| First awarded | 1990 |
| Website | www |
The Academy Awards ceremony takes place every year in September, about four months before the announcement of the nominees for the American Academy Award. The winner of the "Best Film" award is sent as Israel's representative to compete for an Oscar nomination in the "Best Foreign Film Oscar Award" category. Out of the winners of the Ophir Award in the "Best Film" category over the years, 10 films were chosen to be nominated for the Oscar Award in the "Best Foreign Film" category.
History
editThe first Israeli Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1982 with the first award being presented to director Shimon Dotan for the film Repeat Dive, and since 1990 has been held annually at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center.
The highest number of Ophir Awards won by a single film is 11, achieved only by Nina's Tragedies. Assi Dayan won the award 8 times and is the only person to have won as a director, as a screenwriter and also as an actor.
The winner of the Best Film award usually becomes Israel's submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film,[1] although exceptions include Aviva My Love (which was rejected in favor of the film it tied with, Sweet Mud) and The Band's Visit, which was disqualified for having more than 50% of its dialogue in English. Israel submitted the runner-up for that year—Beaufort—instead. The latter film was eventually nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
The statuette awarded to prize winners was designed by the Israeli sculptor Richard Shiloh, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2011.[2]
List of winners
edit- 1990: The Lookout (Shuroo)
- 1991: Beyond the Sea
- 1992: Life According to Agfa
- 1993: Revenge of Itzik Finkelstein
- 1994: Sh'Chur
- 1995: Lovesick on Nana Street
- 1996: Saint Clara
- 1997: Pick a Card
- 1998: Circus Palestine
- 1999: Yana's Friends
- 2000: Time of Favor
- 2001: Late Marriage
- 2002: Broken Wings
- 2003: Nina's Tragedies
- 2004: Campfire
- 2005: What a Wonderful Place
- 2006: Aviva, My Love and Sweet Mud
- 2007: The Band's Visit
- 2008: Waltz with Bashir
- 2009: Ajami
- 2010: The Human Resources Manager
- 2011: Footnote
- 2012: Fill the Void
- 2013: Bethlehem
- 2014: Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem
- 2015: Baba Joon
- 2016: Sand Storm
- 2017: Foxtrot
- 2018: The Cakemaker
- 2019: Incitement
- 2020: Asia
- 2021: Let There Be Morning
- 2022: Cinema Sabaya[3]
- 2023: Seven Blessings[4]
- 2024: Come Closer
Awards ceremonies
editThis is a list of Ophir Award ceremonies.
Ceremonies
edit| Ceremony | Date | Time | Best Picture Winner | Length of Ceremony | Number of Viewers | Rating | Host(s) | Venue | Broadcast Partner(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 1984 | — | Beyond the Walls | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | 1985 | — | When Night Falls | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | 1986 | — | Avanti Popolo | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | 1987 | — | I Don't Give a Damn | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | 1988 | — | Aviya's Summer | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | 1989 | — | One of Us | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1st Ophir Awards | 1990 | — | The Lookout | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2nd Ophir Awards | 1991 | — | Beyond the Sea | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3rd Ophir Awards | 1992 | — | Life According to Agfa | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4th Ophir Awards | 1993 | — | Revenge of Itzik Finkelstein | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5th Ophir Awards | 1994 | — | Sh'Chur | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6th Ophir Awards | 1995 | — | Lovesick on Nana Street | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 7th Ophir Awards | 1996 | — | Saint Clara | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 8th Ophir Awards | 1997 | — | Pick a Card | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 9th Ophir Awards | 1998 | — | Circus Palestine | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 10th Ophir Awards | 1999 | — | Yana's Friends | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 11th Ophir Awards | 2000 | — | Time of Favor | — | — | — | Aki Avni | — | — |
| 12th Ophir Awards | 2001 | — | Late Marriage | — | — | — | Yael Abecassis | — | — |
| 13th Ophir Awards | 2002 | — | Broken Wings | — | — | — | Avi Kushnir | — | — |
| 14th Ophir Awards | September 24, 2003 | — | Nina's Tragedies | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|
Since 2003 the ceremony split into two ceremonies: a separate ceremony for television and a separate ceremony for films. | |||||||||
|
Since 2004, the award name changed from "Israeli Oscar" to "Ophir Award," named after actor Shaike Ophir.[6] | |||||||||
| 15th Ophir Awards | September 27, 2004 | 8:45 p.m. | Campfire | — | — | — | Avi Kushnir | Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center | Channel 2 |
| 16th Ophir Awards | September 20, 2005 | — | What a Wonderful Place | — | — | — | Moni Moshonov | HOT3 | |
| 17th Ophir Awards | September 14, 2006 | 8:00 p.m. | Aviva, My Love and Sweet Mud (tie) | 2 hours, 38 minutes | — | — | Shlomo Bar-Aba, Moni Moshonov | — | |
| 18th Ophir Awards | September 20, 2007 | The Band's Visit | 1 hour, 41 minutes | — | — | Tal Friedman, Moni Moshonov | Channel 2 (Not Live) | ||
| 19th Ophir Awards | September 23, 2008 | — | Waltz with Bashir | — | — | — | Shai Goldstein, Dror Refael | Channel 10 | |
| 20th Ophir Awards | September 26, 2009 | — | Ajami | — | — | — | Avi Kushnir, Moni Moshonov | Haifa Auditorium | Channel 2 |
| 21st Ophir Awards | September 21, 2010 | 9:30 p.m. | The Human Resources Manager | — | — | — | Aki Avni | Jerusalem Theatre | Channel 1 |
| 22nd Ophir Awards | September 22, 2011 | 8:45 p.m. | Footnote | 2 hour, 12 minutes | — | — | Moni Moshonov | Krieger Center for Performing Arts | Channel 2 90 minutes were broadcast live. |
| 23rd Ophir Awards | September 21, 2012 | 1:00 p.m. | Fill the Void | — | — | — | Shlomo Bar-Aba | Channel 2 Air an edited version in 10:00 p.m. | |
| 24th Ophir Awards | September 28, 2013 | 9:00 p.m. | Bethlehem | — | — | — | Yaron Brovinsky | Haifa Theatre | Channel 10 |
| 25th Ophir Awards | September 21, 2014 | Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem | — | — | — | Moni Moshonov | Ashdod Performing Arts Center | ||
| 26th Ophir Awards | September 21, 2015 | Baba Joon | — | — | — | Tal Friedman | |||
| 27th Ophir Awards | September 22, 2016 | Sand Storm | — | — | — | Guri Alfi | Channel 24 | ||
| 28th Ophir Awards | September 19, 2017 | — | Foxtrot | — | — | — | Ilan Peled | Channel 10 | |
| 29th Ophir Awards | September 6, 2018 | — | The Cakemaker | — | — | — | Ilan Peled | Channel 13 | |
| 30th Ophir Awards | September 22, 2019 | — | Incitement | — | — | — | Tzachi Halevy, Yuval Scharf | — | Kan 11 |
| 31st Ophir Awards | November 13, 2020 | — | Asia | — | — | — | Kobi Meaden | — | |
| 32nd Ophir Awards | October 5, 2021 | 9:15 p.m. | Let There Be Morning | — | — | — | Alma Zack, Shai Avivi | — | |
| 33rd Ophir Awards[7] | September 18, 2022 | 11:00 p.m. | Cinema Sabaya | — | — | — | — | ||
| 34th Ophir Awards | September 10, 2023 | — | Seven Blessings | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 35th Ophir Awards[8] | September 16, 2024 | Come Closer | |||||||
Ceremony hosts
editThe following have hosted (or co-hosted) the Academy Awards ceremony on two or more occasions.
| Host | Number of Ceremonies |
|---|---|
| Moni Moshonov | 5 |
| Avi Kushnir | 2 |
| Shlomo Bar-Aba | 2 |
| Tal Friedman | 2 |
| Ilan Peled | 2 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "'Zero Motivation' gets 12 Ophir nods". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
- ^ Tragedy: Artist Richard Shiloh dies in road accident
- ^ Steinberg, Jessica. "Anne Frank, Arab-Jewish relations, karaoke in focus at upcoming Israeli film awards". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2022-08-11.
- ^ "Seven Blessings wins big at the Ophir Awards". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
- ^ "טקס "האוסקר הישראלי" יוקדם לספטמבר" [Israeli Oscars ceremony will be brought forward to September]. Ynet (in Hebrew). 14 January 2003. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
- ^ "הוכרזו המועמדים לאוסקר הישראלי" [The nominees for Israeli Oscars announced]. Ynet (in Hebrew). 23 August 2004. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
- ^ Steinberg, Jessica. "Anne Frank, Arab-Jewish relations, karaoke in focus at upcoming Israeli film awards". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2022-08-11.
- ^ Steinberg, Jessica (September 17, 2024). "Tom Nesher's 'Come Closer' wins Ophir, becomes Israel's choice for Oscar nomination". The Times of Israel. Retrieved September 18, 2024.