Avishai Sivan’s religious drama wins Best Israeli Feature while Hotline scoops Van Leer award for Best Documentary.

Tikkun

Scroll down for full list of winners

Avishai Sivan’s drama Tikkun has won Best Israeli Feature at the 32nd Jerusalem Film Festival, which held its awards ceremony last night [July 16] and closes on Sunday.

Tikkun, which follows a committed Hassidic student who begins to doubt himself after a life-changing experience, won the Haggiag Award for Best Israeli Feature Film, which comes with a $31,500 (ILS 120,000) prize.

The film also won the Anat Pirchi Award for Best Script, which comes with a $2,600 (ILS 10,000) prize, the Haggiag Award for Best Actor for lead Khalifa Natour, also accompanied by a $2,600 (ILS 10,000) prize, and the Van Leer Award for Best Cinematography, which scoops $2,400 (ILS 9,000).

The film was directed by Avishai Sivan and produced by Ronen Ben-Tal, Avishai Sivan, Moshe Edery and Leon Edery of Plan B Productions.

Tikkun will also feature in the International Competition at Locarno Film Festival (Aug 5-15).

Hotline, Silvina Landsmann’s documentary about an NGO in Tel-Aviv, won the Van Leer award for Best Documentary.

The jury - which included EFM head Matthijs Wouter Knol, commended the film for its “impressive achievement in exposing the complexity of current human rights politics in Israel”. The award comes with a $7,900 (ILS 30,000) prize.

Comino Films produced Hotline, which premiered at the Berlin International Film festival in February, while Jerusalem-based distribution outfit Go2Films are handling international sales.

Wedding Doll, Nitzan Gilady’s drama about a young woman growing up in the Israeli desert, won the Anat Pirchi Award for Best First Film and the Haggiag Award for Best Actress for lead Asi Levi.

Apocalyptic horror film Jeruzalem won two awards: the Haggiag Award for Best Editing and the Audience Favourite Award, voted for by the festival’s attendees.

Nirit Aharoni won Best Director of a Documentary for Strung Out, which also won the Haggiag Award for Best Music. Thru You Princess was given an honorary mention in the documentary category.

Full list of winners

The Haggiag Competition for Full-Length Israeli Features

The Haggiag Award for Best Israeli Feature Film:
Tikkun, dir. Avishai Sivan, prod. Ronen Ben Tal, Moshe and Leon Edery.

The Anat Pirchi Award for Best First Film:
Wedding Doll, Nitzan Gilady.

The Anat Pirchi Award for Best Script granting:
Avishai Sivan, Tikkun.

The Haggiag Award for Best Actor granting:
Khalifa Natour,Tikkun.

The Haggiag Award for Best Actress:
Asi Levi, Wedding Dolls.

The Van Leer Award for Best Cinematography:
Shai Goldman,Tikkun.

The Haggiag Award for Best Editing granting:
Reut Han, Yoav Paz and Doron Paz, JeruZalem.

Israel Critics’ Forum Award for Best Feature Film:
A.K.A. Nadia, dir. Tova Ascher, prod. Estee Yacov-Mecklberg, Haim Mecklberg.

The Audience Favorite Award:
JeruZalem, dir. Yoav Paz, Doron Paz, prod. Yoav Paz, Doron Paz, Nir Miretzky and Rotem Levim.

The Van Leer Competition for Israeli Documentary Cinema

The Van Leer Award for Best Documentary Film:
Hotline, dir. Silvina Landsmann, prod. Silvina Landsmann, Pierre-Olivier Bardet.

The Van Leer Award for Best Director of a Documentary:
Nirit Aharoni, Strung Out.

The Haggiag Award for Best Music:
Ophir Leibovitch, Strung Out.

Honorary Mention to a Documentary:
Thru You Princess, dir. Ido Haar, prod. Liran Aztmor.

The Wim Van Leer “In the Spirit of Freedom” Competition

The Cummings Award for Best Feature Film:
Three Windows and a Hanging, dir.Isa Qosja.

The Ostrovsky Award for Best Documentary Film:
The Pearl Button, dir. Patricio Guzman

Honorary Mention:
Mussa, dir. Anat Goren, prod. Daniela Rachminov-Sidi, Anat Goren.

The FIPRESCI International Debuts Competition

The FIPRESCI Award for Best First Film:
Songs my Brothers Taught Me, dir. Chloe Zhao.

Honorary Mention to an Israeli Debut:
Wedding Doll, dir. and prod. Nitzan Gilady.

The Israeli Short Film Competition

The Van Leer award for Best Short Feature Film:
Line of Grace, dir. Rotem Kapelinsky, prod. Eyal Shirai.

The Van Leer Award for Best Director of a Short Feature:
Yehonatan Indursky, The Cantor and the Sea.

The Van Leer award for Best Short Documentary:
Mazal Means Luck, dir. Mazal Ben Yishai, Maaleh Film School.

The Van Leer Award for Best Short Animation Film:
Warm Snow,
dir. Ira Elshansky, Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design.

The Experimental Cinema and Video Art Competition

The Lia Van Leer Award, donated by Rivka Saker:
Factory, dir. Maya Geller.

The Ostrovsky Family Foundation Award:
Last Person Shooter, dir. Boaz Levin and Adam Kaplan.

The Jewish Experience Competition

The Leah Van Leer Award for Films about Jewish Heritage:
Zelda: A Simple Woman, dir. Yair Qedar

The Avner Shalev – Yad Vashem Chairman’s Award for Holocaust-Related Films:
A Nazi Legacy: What Our Fathers Did, dir. David Evans.

The International Children’s Films Competition

The Cummings Award for Best Children’s Film:
Paper Planes, dir. Robert Connolly