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36IFF Guests

  • Tom Nesher | Come Closer

    Director, Screenwriter

    Born in Los Angeles in 1996, Tom Nesher is an accomplished journalist and filmmaker. She is a graduate of the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film School's screenwriting program. Her four award-winning short films were screened in the Jerusalem Film Festival, Tel Aviv’s LGBT Film Festival, and in festivals around the world. Currently Nesher is also engaged in directing music videos for some of Israel’s most successful artists.

  • Estee Yacov-Mecklberg | Come Closer, Highway 65

    Producer

    Estee Yacov-Mecklberg is the co-owner of 2-Team Productions, Israel's leading production company. The films she has produced have achieved both international recognition and box-office success. Estee's productions have participated in all leading international film festivals, won numerous prizes and are sold by the leading worldwide sales agents.

  • Anat Malz | Real Estate - A Love Story

    Director, Screenwriter, Editor

    Graduated from the Sam Spiegel Film School. Her graduation film, VIDA, was screened at many festivals worldwide, including Clermont Ferrand and was purchased by Canal+. Her short film, ON YOUR OWN, was screened at Jerusalem FF. REAL ESTATE is her debut feature film. The script was developed with the support of the Rabinovitch Film Fund and won First Prize at the Haifa Film Festival Pitching Forum.

  • Maya Kenig | The Milky Way

    Director, Screenwriter, Editor

    Maya Kenig is an Israeli film director, writer and actress. She is best known for her work on The Milky Way, In the Shade of the Palm Tree, The Bentwich Syndrome, Off White Lies and Top of the World. Her films were awarded in many festivals worldwide.

  • Sophie Artus | Halisa

    Director, Screenwriter

    Sophie Artus is a director and a scriptwriter. Starting her career as a researcher in Neurobiology, Artus left her lab to continue to experiment life through stories of human characters. At the age of 30 she graduated from Tel Aviv University with an MFA and made short films. Her first feature-film VALLEY, telling the difficult story of teenagers in a peripheral city of Israel, won the Best Feature Debut Award in Haifa FF, Best Film Award in Cinema Jove Valencia, and more. She finds her vocation as a woman filmmaker deeply engaged in social issues.

  • Benny Fredman | Home

    Director, Producer, Screenwriter

    Director, producer, and screenwriter is best known for His first film “Suicide” which was officially selected at the Sitges Film Festival and acquired by Netflix for worldwide distribution.

  • Moshe Rosenthal | Karaoke

    Director, Screenwriter

    Graduated from The Steve Tisch School of Film and Television at Tel Aviv University Moshe Rosenthal is an Israeli filmmaker. Writing and directing films, commercials, television, and web. In 2018 Moshe participated in the Sam-Spiegel Jerusalem Film Lab, there he received a jury award for his screenplay Independence. Karaoke, won the Steve Tisch grant for first features, as well as the second prize in Jerusalem FF Pitch-point event.

  • Lior Chefetz | The Stronghold

    Director

    Lior's adventure feature film "SKY RAIDERS" (הרפתקה בשחקים) received rave reviews and was distributed internationally. Lior wrote for the acclaimed TV crime drama “Line in the Sand,” (השוטרים) and his short film “The Godmother” won multiple awards, including “Best Director” at the Shanghai Film Festival. Lior holds an MFA from USC’s Film School.

  • Erez Tadmor | Soda, Matchmaking 2

    Director

    Erez Tadmor is one of the most active and respected directors in Israel. His first film “Strangers” was nominated in the official competition at Sundance and Tribeca Film Festival, his second film “A Matter of Size”, co-director with Sharon Maymon, was nominated for 13 Academy Awards in Israel and won the Audience Award at Karlovy Vary Festival. The film was sold to more than 40 countries including US and Paramount studios acquired the remake rights.

  • Ofer Naim | Midlife, Better Days: The Story of Ze'ev Revach

    Producer

    Ofer Naim is a Producer best known for Poli's Final Sketch (2012), Love In Suspenders (2019), Mossad (2019), One More Story (2021), Don't Wait for Me (2022), Midlife (2024) and Better Days - The Story of Ze'ev Revach (2024).

  • Adar Shafran | Running On Sand

    Director, Producer

    Born in 1982 in a small village in north of Israel called "Ein Iron". When I was 18, I became a musician and had a rock bandfor 8 years.I was writing and composing the songs. After I produced one of our music videos for the band the director asked me to come and producemore projects together with him. After two years producing many music videos, I started my own company called Firma Films together withmy partner Roni Abramowsky.I stated to produce Feature films and series and as a producer I was involved from the first words that werewritten until the last frame in the post. With one project we developed (Running on sand) we were looking for a directorand I was so connected to it that I decided to direct it myself and fell in love with it.

  • Shemi Shoenfeld | Soda, Matchmaking 2

    Producer

    Shemi Shoenfeld is a Producer best known for Magic Man (2014), Wounded Land (2015), The Art of Waiting (2019), Matchmaking (2022), Matchmaking 2 (2024) and Soda (2024).

  • Amit Ulman | The City

    Director, Screenwriter, Actor

    Director, screenwriter, actor - graduate of Nissan Nativ Acting Studio, creator/participant in the cult theater play "The City". Founder of the Israeli Poetry Slam. The critically acclaimed film noir Hip Hop opera "The City" is his debut film.

  • Elad Peleg | The City

    Producer

    Elad Peleg, an award-winning producer and recipient of the prestigious Ophir Award (the “Israeli Oscar”), co-founded Daroma Productions with Haggai Arad 20 years ago. The company is renowned for producing impactful films that highlight personal stories and address significant social issues, bringing authentic narratives to the forefront of Israeli cinema.

  • Aharon Peer | The City

    Producer

    Aharon Peer has been a film and TV editor since 1991, specializing in picture design, color grading, and online editing. In 2008, he founded RGB, one of Israel’s largest post-production houses. In 2021, he partnered with Daroma Productions, contributing his extensive expertise in post-production to enhance the company’s commitment to high-quality, socially impactful storytelling.

  • Gilad Inbar | Home, Exodus 91

    Director, Producer, Editor

    Graduated with honors from the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School. Inbar directed documentaries that participated in many international film festivals and edited Benny Fredman's award-winning film, "Home".

  • Annabel Targownik | Ext. Day. Saturday

    Director

    Annabel Targownik, 26, is a Jewish German-Israeli filmmaker. Raised by two documentary filmmakers, a Brazilian mother and German father, she was inspired to expand her horizons and pursue her film studies at Sapir college, mere kilometers from the Gaza strip. Now living in Tel Aviv, Annabel uses film as a means to bring forth her perspective on the war through the unique lens of an insider-outsider.