Revolving doors at the Israeli film funds - Noa Regev, Avital Bekerman, Amir Manor, Adar Shafran, Avi Nesher, Tom Nesher & More. - De-normalizing nepotism in the film industry.

It appears that there is a pervasive issue of a revolving doors policy within Israeli film funding organizations, notably “The Israeli Film Fund”, “Gesher” & “The Rabinovitch Foundation.”

This policy involves, along others, individuals who are both employed as project readers within these funds and serve as key decision-makers in the funding allocation process. These same individuals often receive financial support from these funds for their personal film projects. This situation has resulted in a tight-knit circle of filmmakers consistently securing funding for their projects, leaving little room for emerging talent or those without direct connections to this inner circle.

The Israeli film industry, locally referred to as “the swamp”, is widely recognized for its troubling issues with funding corruption. A notable instance involves Adar Shafran, the head of the Israeli Producers Association. Despite his primary experience as a producer, Shafran controversially secured funding from The Israeli Film Fund for a directorial project, without real qualification or experience for such a role. Concurrently, The Rabinovitch Foundation faced criticism for awarding production funds for two feature films to director Avi Nesher and, in a separate decision, at the very same time, to his daughter, Tom Nesher. These incidents are part of a broader pattern of alleged favoritism, nepotism, and corruption that plagues the local film industry.

The tables below illustrate films that have received funding, with each corresponding to individuals who have also been recipients of funding for their own project development or production from one of these funds. The accompanying columns display the periods during which these individuals worked as readers for the funds.

It becomes evident that individuals who have longstanding affiliations with these funds, serving as employees, consultants, readers, and decision-makers, enjoy a significant advantage over filmmakers who lack regular interaction with these organizations and have no access to the individuals in influential positions within them. This disparity raises concerns about fairness and equal opportunity within the Israeli film funding landscape. The Israeli Film Fund is currently lead by Noa Regev (נעה רגב), and Avital Bekerman (אביטל בקרמן) is Head of Development.

A revolving doors policy within film funding organizations, where the same individuals both evaluate project proposals and receive funding for their own projects, can degrade the quality of films being made in several ways:

Lack of diversity: This practice tends to perpetuate a narrow pool of filmmakers who consistently receive funding, often leading to a lack of diversity in terms of voices, perspectives, and storytelling approaches. New and innovative voices from emerging filmmakers may struggle to break into the industry, resulting in a stagnant and homogenous film landscape.
Stifling creativity: When a select group of individuals repeatedly receives funding, they may become complacent or risk-averse in their creative choices. The fear of jeopardizing future funding opportunities can discourage experimentation and the exploration of new ideas, resulting in formulaic or safe filmmaking.
Limited exposure to fresh talent: Talented filmmakers who do not have connections within the established inner circle may go unnoticed or face difficulties in getting their projects funded. This can result in missing out on potentially groundbreaking and unique cinematic voices that could contribute to the enrichment of the industry.
Reduced accountability: When those who evaluate and allocate funds are also recipients of funding, it can create a conflict of interest. There may be less scrutiny and accountability in the decision-making process, as individuals may be inclined to support projects from colleagues or acquaintances rather than solely based on the merit of the project.
Stagnation of ideas: A closed system with limited opportunities for new talent can lead to a stagnation of creative ideas within the industry. Fresh perspectives and innovative approaches to storytelling may not get the chance to thrive, hindering the evolution of filmmaking.
Inequality in access: Such a system can perpetuate inequality within the film industry, making it challenging for filmmakers without existing connections to access funding and resources. This lack of equal opportunity can hinder the industry’s ability to represent a wide range of voices and stories.

In summary, a revolving doors policy in film funding organizations can result in a less diverse, less innovative, and less accountable film industry. It may limit opportunities for emerging talent, stifle creative exploration, and prioritize personal connections over the quality of film projects, ultimately impacting the richness and diversity of films being made.

1) Amir Manor – עמיר מנור

The name of the fund	Year	due in	Route	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund	Remarks
The Israeli Film Fund	2013	May	Script development
The Israeli Film Fund	2013	November	Script development
The Israeli Film Fund	2014	November	Independent	Flowers of marzipan	2014	The Israeli Film Fund	script editing[6]
Gesher Foundation	2015
The Israeli Film Fund	2015	November	Script development	I can’t believe I’m a robot	2015	The Israeli Film Fund[7]	This film is among the 99 films that did not go through the approval process and received funding[8]
Rabinovitch	2016		students
The Israeli Film Fund	2018	July	Script development step one
Rabinovitch	2019		students	The house on Finn Street	2018	Rabinovitch[9]	This film is among the 99 films that did not go through the Lectora process and received funding[10]
The Israeli Film Fund	2019	September	debutantes
The Israeli Film Fund	2019	December	central
Gesher Foundation	2020
Rabinovitch	2020		diploma
The Israeli Film Fund	2020	May	development	the swimmer	2021	The Israeli Film Fund	script editing[11]

2) Lee Gilat – לי גילת

The name of the fund	Year	due in	Route	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund
The Israeli Film Fund	2013	November	Script development
The Israeli Film Fund	2014	November	Independent	rounders	2014	The Israeli Film Fund[12]
The Israeli Film Fund	2014	June	Script development
Gesher Foundation	2015
Rabinovitch	2015	A	Features	The good words	2015	Rabinovitch[13]
The Israeli Film Fund	2015	April	Comedy/genre
The Israeli Film Fund	2015	November	Script development
Rabinovitch	2017		Features	opposites	2016	Rabinovich[14]
Gesher Foundation	2018			An ordinary day (short film)	2018	bridge[15]
Gesher Foundation	2019
The Israeli Film Fund	2020	April	central track

3) Amnon Zelait – אמנון זלאייט

The name of the fund	Year	due in	Route	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund	Remarks
The Israeli Film Fund	2013	November	Script development
Rabinovitch	2014	B	Features
The Israeli Film Fund	2014	November	debutantes
The Israeli Film Fund	2014	June	Script development
Rabinovitch	2015	B	Features
The Israeli Film Fund	2015	November	Script development
Rabinovitch	2016		Features	Tzipuri Khol [16] [17], G’ankshan 48 [18] [19]	2016	Rabinovitch	photographer
Rabinovitch	2016		Features	The Nerd Club [20] [21] [22] [23]	2017	Rabinovitch	photographer
Gesher Foundation	2017
Rabinovitch	2019		Features	A hero in the clouds	2018	Rabinovitch [24] [25]
Rabinovitch	2020		diploma	the meal	2020	Rabinovitch[26]	photographer

4) Tal Granite – טל גרניט

The name of the fund	Year	due in	Route	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund	Remarks
Rabinovitch	2015	A	Features
The Israeli Film Fund	2015	April	Script development
Gesher Foundation	2019
The Israeli Film Fund	2019	April	central	the prom	2018	The Israeli Film Fund[27]	This film is among the 99 films that did not go through the approval process and received funding[28]
The Israeli Film Fund	2019	September	debutantes
Rabinovitch	2020		diploma	Omi Ralia	2019	Rabinovitch[29]
Rabinovitch	2020		Features	happy ending	2021	Rabinovich[30]

5) Sharon Maimon – שרון מימון

The name of the fund	Year	due in	Route	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund	Remarks
The Israeli Film Fund	2013	November	central
Rabinovitch	2015	B	Features
Rabinovitch	2015	A	Features
Rabinovitch	2016		Features
Rabinovitch	2019		Features	Baby Bombay[31]	2019	Rabinovitch
Rabinovitch	2019		Features	Omi Ralia[32]	2019	Rabinovitch
The Israeli Film Fund	2019	April	central	the prom	2018	The Israeli Film Fund[33]	This film is among the 99 films that did not go through the approval process and received funding[34]
Rabinovitch	2020		Features	happy ending	2021	Rabinovich[35]

6) Efrat Korem – אפרת כורם

The name of the fund	Year	due in	Route	Films that received funding	Remarks
	2014			Old Man
Gesher Foundation	2015
The Israeli Film Fund	2015	July	Independent
The Israeli Film Fund	2015	November	Script development
The Israeli Film Fund	2016	November	Completion of production
Rabinovitch	2019		Features
The Israeli Film Fund	2019	September	debutantes
Gesher Foundation	2020
The Israeli Film Fund	2020	September	Independent
Rabinovitch	2019		Features	A woman is sitting in the director’s chair	participation

7) Dita Geri – דיתה גרי

The name of the fund	sleep	due in	Route	Films that received funding

Source fund	2005			“Kafka’s Magic”
The Israeli Film Fund	2014	November	debutantes
The Israeli Film Fund	2016			An Israeli love story
Gesher Foundation	2015
Rabinovitch	2017		students
Rabinovitch	2017		diploma
The Israeli Film Fund	2018	July	Script development step b
Rabinovitch	2019		students
Rabinovitch	2019		diploma

8) Israela Shaar – ישראלה שאער מעודד

The name of the fund	sleep	due in	Route	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund
Rabinovitch	2014	B	diploma
Rabinovitch	2014	A	diploma
Rabinovitch	2015	B	diploma
Rabinovitch	2015	A	diploma
Gesher Foundation	2016
Gesher Foundation	2017
Gesher Foundation	2019
Gesher Foundation	2020
Rabinovitch	2020		diploma	Wife	2019	Rabinovich[36]
Rabinovitch	2020		Features
Rabinovitch	2021	B	students
Rabinovitch	2021	A	diploma

9) Netali Brown – נטעלי בראון

The name of the fund

sleep

due in

Route

Films that received funding

sleep

A financing fund

The Israeli Film Fund	2013	May	Script development
Rabinovitch	2014	B	diploma
Rabinovitch	2014	A	diploma
The Israeli Film Fund	2017	May	debutantes
Gesher Foundation	2019
Rabinovitch	2019		diploma
The Israeli Film Fund	2020	May	development
The Israeli Film Fund	2021	May	production	Feature production

10) Raphael Balolo – רפאל בלולו

The name of the fund	sleep	due in	Route	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund
Rabinovitch	2014	B	students
Gesher Foundation	2015
Rabinovitch	2015	B	students
Rabinovitch	2015	A	students
Rabinovitch	2019		diploma
Rabinovitch	2020		diploma
Rabinovitch	2020		Features	Good spies	2021	Rabinovich[37]

11) Leon Prodovsky – לאון פרודובסקי

The name of the fund

sleep

due in

Route

Films that received funding

The Israeli Film Fund	2009	Production financing	Features	Five hours from Paris
Rabinovitch	2013	B	Features
Rabinovitch	2013	A	Features
Gesher Foundation	2015
Rabinovitch	2015	B	Features
Rabinovitch	2015	A	Features
Gesher Foundation	2017
The Israeli Film Fund	2017	May	Independent
The Israeli Film Fund	2017	February	Script development step one
Rabinowitz	2022	Production financing		My neighbor is Adolf

12) Eric Caplon –אריק קפלון

The name of the fund	sleep	due in	Route	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund
The Israeli Film Fund	2013	May	Script development
The Israeli Film Fund	2015	April	Script development
The Israeli Film Fund	2019	December	central
Rabinovitch	2020		Features
The Israeli Film Fund	2020	April	central track	Home HOME	2021	The Israeli Film Fund[38]
Rabinovitch	2021	A	Features

In addition, he is employed as a workshop leader in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, the Rabinovitch Foundation, the Gesher Foundation and the Screenwriters’ Union[39]

13) Suha Aref – סוהא עארף

The name of the fund	sleep	due in	Route	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund
The Israeli Film Fund	2013	November	Script development
The Israeli Film Fund	2014	June	Script development	Villa Toma	2014	The Israeli Film Fund[40]
Gesher Foundation	2015
Gesher Foundation	2016
Rabinovitch	2016		Features
Gesher Foundation	2019
The Israeli Film Fund	2020	April	central track

14) Gor Heller – גור הלר

The name of the fund	sleep	due in	Route	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund	Remarks
The Israeli Film Fund	2016	April	Script development
Gesher Foundation	2018
The Israeli Film Fund	2018	July	Script development step one	are in doubt	2017	The Israeli Film Fund[41] [42]	script editor
Gesher Foundation	2019
Rabinovitch	2019		diploma
Rabinovitch	2019		Features
Rabinovitch	2020		diploma
The Israeli Film Fund	2020	September	Independent

15) Ronnie Kidar – רוני קידר

The name of the fund	sleep	due in	Route	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund
Rabinovitch	2013	B	students
Rabinovitch	2013	A	students
Rabinovitch	2014			Apocalypse
The Israeli Film Fund	2016	May	debutantes	Family	2015	The Israeli Film Fund[43]
Gesher Foundation	2017			The woman who wanted to kill someone	2016	Gesher [Goethe Institute, import-export project][44]
The Israeli Film Fund	2017	February	Script development step one

Her film “Sofolam” is among the 99 films that did not go through the approval process and received funding [45]

16) Yevgeny Roman – יבגני רומן

The name of the fund	sleep	due in	Route	Films that received production funding	sleep	A financing fund
Gesher Foundation	2015			Area A	2014	bridge[46]
Rabinovitch	2015	B	Features
Rabinovitch	2015	A	Features
The Israeli Film Fund	2016	May	Children
The Israeli Film Fund	2016	April	Script development
The Israeli Film Fund	2019	September	debutantes	Background noises	2018	The Israeli Film Fund[47]

17) Idan Hubel – עידן הובל

The name of the fund	sleep	due in	Route	Remarks	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund
	2012				the water disconnector
Gesher Foundation	2015			In the spirit of cinema [November 5]	a slice of bread	2015	bridge[48]
Gesher Foundation	2019			In the spirit of cinema [November 5]
Rabinovitch	2019		students
Rabinovitch	2020		students
Rabinovitch	2020		diploma
Gesher Foundation	2021	March	shorts

18) Tawfik (Agbariya) Abu Wail – תאופיק (אגבאריה) אבו ואיל

The name of the fund	sleep	due in	Route	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund
The Israeli Film Fund	2013	April	central
The Israeli Film Fund	2013	November	Completion of production	the freedom train
Gesher Foundation	2015			Love on Demand: Love Letters to Cinema	2014	Bridge [49] [50]
The Israeli Film Fund	2015	November	Script development
The Israeli Film Fund	2020	April	central track	Hassan the wise	2019	The Israeli Film Fund[51]

19) Mia Dreyfus – מיה דרייפוס

The name of the fund	sleep	due in	Route	Films that received production funding	sleep	A financing fund	Remarks
Gesher Foundation	2019
Rabinovitch	2019		students	the diving	2018	Rabinovitch[52]
Rabinovitch	2019		diploma
Gesher Foundation	2020			youth	2020	Bridge [53] [54]
Gesher Foundation	2020			A woman is sitting in the director’s chair	2020	Verbinovich Bridge[55]	Participated in the film[56]
bridge	2021	open	dedicated

20) Samdar Zamir – סמדר זמיר

The name of the fund	sleep	due in	Route	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund
Gesher Foundation	2019
Rabinovitch	2019		diploma
Rabinovitch	2020		Features	A woman is sitting in the director’s chair	2020	Verbinovich Bridge[57]
Gesher Foundation	2021	December	final
Gesher Foundation	2021	March	short ones

21) Verdit (Vidy) spent – ורדית (וידי) בילו

The name of the fund	sleep	due in	Route	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund
	2013	production		“The End of the Age of Innocence”
Gesher Foundation	2015
Gesher Foundation	2016			Wires (short film)[58]	2017	bridge
Gesher Foundation	2016			Belly Fire (short film)[59]	2017	bridge
The Israeli Film Fund	2019	December	debutantes
Rabinovitch	2021	B	Features
Rabinovitch	2021	A	Features

Her film “The End of the Age of Innocence” is among the 99 films that did not go through the approval process and received funding [60]

22) Kobi Mizrahi – קובי מזרחי

The name of the fund	sleep	due in	Route	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund	Remarks
Gesher Foundation	2017			Ben Gurion, Epilogue		Bridge and source [61] [62]	Used as post production
Gesher Foundation	2018
Gesher Foundation	2019
Gesher Foundation	2020
Rabinovitch	2020		students	Taketsubo	2021	Rabinovitch and the New Cinema Fund[63] [64]
The Israeli Film Fund	2020	May	Completion of production
Gesher Foundation	2021	January	Final – feature pitching

23) Sherry Azuz- Berger – שרי עזוז- ברגר

The name of the fund	sleep	due in	Route	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund	Remarks
Rabinovitch	2017		Features
Rabinovitch	2019		Features
Gesher Foundation	2020			sweetie	2019	bridge[65]	editor
Gesher Foundation	2020			polygraph (short film)	2020	bridge[65]
Rabinovitch	2021	A	diploma
Rabinovitch	2021	A	Features

24) Dana Goldberg – דנה גולדברג

The name of the fund	sleep	due in	Route	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund	Remarks
The Israeli Film Fund	2014	June	Script development
Rabinovitch	2016		students
The Israeli Film Fund	2019	June	development
Rabinovitch	2019		students				Received funding for the book of poetry she published “Shemesh Ishira” (2019) from the Rabinovitch Fund[66]
Rabinovitch	2019		Features	A woman is sitting in the director’s chair	2020	Verbinovich Bridge[67]	Participated in the film

25) Esti Alamo-Wexler – אסתי עלמו-וקסלר

The name of the fund	sleep	due in	Route	Films that received funding	sleep	A financing fund	Remarks
Gesher Foundation	2017
Gesher Foundation	2019
Rabinovitch	2020		Features	A woman is sitting in the director’s chair	2020	Verbinovich Bridge[68]	Participated in the film
Rabinovitch	2021	A	Features

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