'5 Broken Cameras' directors Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
Photo: David Godlis
Israeli documentaries on Oscar shortlist
'The Gatekeepers,' '5 Broken Cameras' among 15 films eligible for consideration for Academy Award nomination for best documentary film
Two Israeli documentaries have been included on the shortlist of 15 films eligible for consideration for an Academy Award nomination for best documentary film, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced this week.
The two Israeli films which made it to the shortlist are director Dror Moreh's "The Gatekeepers" and "5 Broken Cameras" by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi.
From this shortlist, five films will be selected for actual nomination for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar, which will be presented during the Academy Awards ceremony on February 24, 2013.
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Both films' plots touch on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "The Gatekeepers" is comprised of interviews with six Shin Bet directors, who for the first time discuss their service, the dilemmas their struggled with and dramatic and painful moments they experienced.
The film made it to the prestigious Sundance Festival and has been sold for commercial distribution in the United States. It is also one of the Documentary Motion Picture nominees for the Producers Guild of America Awards.
"5 Broken Cameras" tells the story of Emad Burnat, a farmer and photographer from the West Bank village of Bil'in, who documented the villagers' struggle together with activists from all around the world against the construction of the separation fence on residents' lands.
Over the years Burnat's cameras were destroyed by IDF soldiers, and in the film each camera documents a chapter in this life.
"5 Broken Cameras" has been sold to dozens of countries and television stations worldwide and screened in many international festivals.
