HOLLYWOOD (Press Release)–Academy Award nominee Jonah Hill will be honored with the 2012 IFF Achievement in Film Award at the 26th Awards Gala of the Israel Film Festival taking place on Thursday, March 15 at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California. Restoration, which was directed by Yossi Madmoni, will have its Los Angeles premiere as the festival’s opening night film that evening. The Israel Film Festival will run from March 15 through March 29 and showcase over 30 new Israeli films including feature films, thought-provoking documentaries, television series, and student shorts. Festival screenings will take place at Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills and the Laemmle Fallbrook in the San Fernando Valley.
In filmmaker Yossi Madmoni’s opening night film Restoration, 70 year-old Yaakov Fidelman (Sasson Gabai) hangs on with all his might to the antique restoration workshop which has been his life’s work. After his long-time business partner passes away, Fidelman rejects his son Noah’s idea to close the business and build an apartment complex on the site. He believes that with the help of his new apprentice Anton, he’ll find a way to save his workshop, his world and his solitary way of life. When Anton falls in love with Hava, Noah’s pregnant wife, the two young men compete not only over a father, but also over a woman and the baby she carries. Will the old man understand that his only hope for redemption is to learn to let go, admit and accept his weaknesses?
Restoration was nominated for 11 Ophir Israeli Awards and won the Best Film at Jerusalem Film Festival and the Screenwriting Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. It was also the winner of Best Film at the Carlo Vivari International Film Festival 2011.
Jonah Hill has quickly become one of Hollywood’s most sought after talents, due in part to his dynamic evolution from laugh-out-loud comedy star to Golden Globe, SAG and Academy-Award nominated “Best Supporting Actor” in 2011 for Moneyball. Starring opposite Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman, the film, based on the book Moneyball follows Major League Baseball manager Billy Beane (Pitt) as he successfully builds a baseball team using computer-generated analysis to draft the most cost effective players. Directed by Bennett Miller (Capote) for Columbia Pictures, the film received adoration from film critics across the country and was nominated for “Best Motion Picture – Drama” by the HFPA, and was Academy Award nominated for “Best Picture.”
“We are very pleased to honor such a dynamic and multi-faceted talent like Jonah Hill,” said Festival Founder and Executive Director, Meir Fenigstein. “We are excited to present the IFF Achievement in Film Award for his remarkable accomplishments and his support for Israeli filmmaking.”
Hill will next star in the highly anticipated 21 Jump Street remake opposite Channing Tatum. He also co-wrote and Executive Produced the film for Columbia Pictures which is scheduled for release on March 16..
He recently wrapped production on Neighborhood Watch starring opposite Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn. The comedy centers around a group of fathers who have started a neighborhood watch team, only to discover what they are protecting their neighborhood from is really a much larger plot to destroy the entire Earth. The film will be released by Twentieth Century Fox on July 27, 2012.
Celebrating its 26th anniversary with events in Los Angeles, New York and Miami, the Israel Film Festival is the largest showcase of Israeli films in the United States. In the last two and a half decades, the Festival has presented more than 800 feature films, documentaries, television dramas and short films to over 900,000 filmgoers and brought hundreds of Israeli filmmakers to the U.S. to share their art.
The Israel Film Festival is produced by IsraFest Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization created in 1982. The 26th Anniversary festival is presented in association with the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles and sponsored in part by the Israel Film Fund.
The Festival’s mission is to showcase the finest new Israeli films in order to share with American audiences the country’s rich culture, diverse stories and modern Israeli life. The honorary co-chairs for the 26th Israel Film Festival are Ryan Kavanaugh and Arnon Milchan.
Tickets will be available online on March 1 and can also be purchased at the Laemmle’s Box Office.
*
Preceding provided by the Israel Film Festival.
.