31st Israeli Film Festival to Honor Emmy Winner Jeffrey Tambor & More

Emmy and Golden Globe winner Jeffrey Tambor will receive the 2017 IFF Achievement in Television Award, and multiple award-winning (including the 2017 Israeli Academy Ophir Award for Best Actor), Israeli movie star Lior Ashkenazi will be honored with the 2017 IFF Cinematic Achievement Award at the 31st Israel Film Festival Opening Night Gala, Award Presentation and Screening in Los Angeles on Sunday, November 5th at the Steve Tisch Cinema Center at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, announced Festival Founder and Executive Director Meir Fenigstein.

This year's Festival Chairman is Adam Berkowitz, Co-Head of TV at Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Serving as Honorary Chairman of the Festival is Arnon Milchan, owner of New Regency Productions.

The 31st edition of the Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles runs November 5th - 21st. Festival screenings will take place at the Ahrya Fine Arts by Laemmle (Beverly Hills), Laemmle Royal Theater (West L.A.) and the Laemmle Town Center 5 (Encino). The Opening Night film, on November 5th, is Yariv Mozer's Documentary Ben-Gurion, Epilogue, Winner of the 2017 Israeli Academy Ophir Award for Best Documentary, to be screened following the Award Presentation at the Saban Theatre. For further information or to purchase tickets, contact IsraFest Foundation: 310.247.1800 or info@IsraelFilmFestival.org. Tickets will also be available to purchase on the website as of October 20th: www.IsraelFilmFestival.com

"We are so proud to announce THE LINEUP for the 31st Israel Film Festival, presenting the largest showcase ever of Israeli films and, for the first time, television programming, in the United States," noted Fenigstein. "The Israel Film Festival transports moviegoers across the world and provides audiences with the opportunity to experience the rich Israeli culture first hand."

Among this year's highlights are the narrative feature films Longing, The Testament, Scaffolding, Azimuth, The Cakemaker, Heroine, Holy Air, In Between, Maktub and The Cousin, while the documentaries include Muhi and When the Smoke Clears. Also, the IFF will present the second season Premieres of two of Israel's most popular television programs of all time, Fauda and Mossad 101, which became huge successes worldwide.

Over 20 Israeli filmmakers will attend this year's Festival, accompanying their films and participating in Q & A sessions, including:

Dan Wolman, director/producer, An Israeli Love Story
Michael Aloni, actor, And Then She Arrived
Arik Rothstein, director, Antenna
Yariv Mozer, director, Ben-Gurion, Epilogue
Mike Burstyn, director, Azimuth
Yiftach Klein, actor, Azimuth
Sammy Sheikh, actor, Azimuth
Shuki Friedman, producer, Azimuth
Ehud Bleiberg, producer, The Cousin
Lior Raz, actor/writer, Fauda
Avi Issacharoff, writer, Fauda
Laëtitia Eïdo, actor, Holy Air and Fauda
Alon Aboutboul, actor, Harmonia and The Harem
Shady Srour, actor/writer/director, Holy Air
Ilan Moskovitch, producer, Holy Air
Guy Amir, actor/writer, Maktub
Hanan Savyon, actor/writer, Maktub
Roni Abramowsky, producer, Maktub
Adar Shafran, producer, Maktub
Yehuda Levi, actor, Mossad 101
Yossi Vassa, writer/actor, Nevsu
Ofer Naim, producer, Operation Egg and Almost Famous
Alon Gur Arye, director, Operation Egg
Anya Bukstein, actor, A Quiet Heart

Jeffrey Tambor has earned deep respect for being one of the most versatile and accomplished character actors in film and television. He stars in Amazon Studios hit series Transparent, playing family patriarch Mort Pfefferman, who over the course of the show becomes the unforgettable Maura. Tambor's groundbreaking performance earned him two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a SAG Award and a Critics' Choice Award. He's also starred in the Emmy-winning sitcom Arrested Development, playing twin brothers George and Oscar Bluth, and played Hank Kingsley, the self-centered sidekick on HBO's critically acclaimed The Larry Sanders Show.

Tambor will next be seen in the Disney feature Magic Camp directed by Mark Waters opposite Gillian Jacobs and Adam Devine, 55 Steps directed by Billie August opposite Hilary Swank and Helena Bonham Carter, and Armando Iannucci's The Death of Stalin opposite Steve Buscemi, Olga Kurylenko and Timothy Dalton. He's lent his talents to numerous films, Broadway shows and animated features. His memoir Are You Anybody? was released in May 2017. Tambor lives in New York with his wife Kasia and their four children.

Lior Ashkenazi is an award winning Israeli screen and stage actor who has received the Ophir Best Actor Award from the Israeli Film Academy twice, for his roles in Late Marriage and Footnote. He was also nominated for that award several other times. The former film premiered in Cannes in 2001, while Joseph Cedar's Footnote premiered in Cannes in 2011 and won the screenplay award. It was also nominated for Best Foreign Language film at the Oscars.

In 2016 Ashkenazi played opposite Richard Gere in Cedar's Norman. His other film credits include Eytan Fox's Walk on Water and will soon be seen in Foxtrot, Samuel Maoz much-anticipated next film which has been selected as the Israel submission for Best Foreign Language Film for the 2018 Academy Awards. Ashkenazi is also known for his role in the successful TV series In Treatment. His latest television role is in the series The Exchange Principle (2016), in which he plays a former police forensic detective living on the streets, that returns to investigate his last case. He was also nominated for the best actor at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Australia for his performance in Footnote and won the High Commendation for Best Performance by an Actor in 2012.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos

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