Avraham Heffner
Encyclopedia
Avraham Heffner is an Israel
i movie director
, screenwriter
, writer, and Professor Emeritus at the Tel-Aviv University. He is a recipient of the Ophir Award for lifetime achievements.
, Paris. His love for the cinema began, according to him, at the age of 17. He began his career as an actor (in Uri Zohar
's Hor BaLevana).
His first movie as director was Slow Down (1967), an adaptation of a short story by Simone de Beauvoir
, which won him the Silver Lion
Award at the 1969 Venice Film Festival
. In the 1960s and the 1970s he was among the Israeli directors creating more personal and social films (in the "New Sensitivity" genre), films that were influenced from the Avant-garde
-European cinema. The most significant example for these type of films is Heffner's first feature, But Where Is Daniel Wax?, which he wrote and directed. But Where Is Daniel Wax?, Heffner's most important and famous film, is considered by film critics and Israeli film researchers to be the best Israeli movie of all time.
Two other films of his, Aunt Clara (1977) and Laura Adler's Last Love Affair, are considered to be a eulogy to the old Yiddish speakers, European Jews who live in Israel. Aunt Clara, a semi-autobiographical film about Heffner's own family, tells the story of three Poland-born aunts in Israel, who are looking after their young nieces. Laura Adler's Last Love Affair is a eulogy to the Israeli Yiddish theater and its old actors.
The television film he created in 1998, Eretz Ktana, Ish Gadol [Small Country, Great Man], is a cynical look at the ever-changing State of Israel of the 1990s and the Zionist myths, which in Heffner's opinion, are now gone.
In 2004, Heffner won the Ophir Award for his life-time of achievements in Israeli Cinema
.
Heffner lectured for many years on film-making and screenwriting, at the Tel Aviv University
.
His films are held at the Jewish film archives.
, and influenced many well known Israeli filmmakers, like Eitan Green, Renen Shor, Ari Folman
, Hagai Levi
, Menashe Noy, Dover Kosashvili
and many more.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i movie director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, writer, and Professor Emeritus at the Tel-Aviv University. He is a recipient of the Ophir Award for lifetime achievements.
Biography
Heffner served in the IDF with the Nahal Army Band. After his IDF service, he studied French literature at the SorbonneSorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
, Paris. His love for the cinema began, according to him, at the age of 17. He began his career as an actor (in Uri Zohar
Uri Zohar
Uri Zohar is a former Israeli film director, actor, and comedian who left the entertainment world to become a rabbi.-Biography:Zohar was born in Tel Aviv in 1934. In 1952, he graduated high school and did his military service in an army entertainment troupe. His first marriage ended in divorce.By...
's Hor BaLevana).
His first movie as director was Slow Down (1967), an adaptation of a short story by Simone de Beauvoir
Simone de Beauvoir
Simone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir, often shortened to Simone de Beauvoir , was a French existentialist philosopher, public intellectual, and social theorist. She wrote novels, essays, biographies, an autobiography in several volumes, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and...
, which won him the Silver Lion
Silver Lion
The Leone d’Argento refers to a number of awards presented at the Venice Film Festival. The Silver Lion is awarded irregularly and have gone through several changes of purpose. Until 1995, Silver Lions were infrequently awarded to a number of films as second prize for those nominated for the...
Award at the 1969 Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
. In the 1960s and the 1970s he was among the Israeli directors creating more personal and social films (in the "New Sensitivity" genre), films that were influenced from the Avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
-European cinema. The most significant example for these type of films is Heffner's first feature, But Where Is Daniel Wax?, which he wrote and directed. But Where Is Daniel Wax?, Heffner's most important and famous film, is considered by film critics and Israeli film researchers to be the best Israeli movie of all time.
Two other films of his, Aunt Clara (1977) and Laura Adler's Last Love Affair, are considered to be a eulogy to the old Yiddish speakers, European Jews who live in Israel. Aunt Clara, a semi-autobiographical film about Heffner's own family, tells the story of three Poland-born aunts in Israel, who are looking after their young nieces. Laura Adler's Last Love Affair is a eulogy to the Israeli Yiddish theater and its old actors.
The television film he created in 1998, Eretz Ktana, Ish Gadol [Small Country, Great Man], is a cynical look at the ever-changing State of Israel of the 1990s and the Zionist myths, which in Heffner's opinion, are now gone.
In 2004, Heffner won the Ophir Award for his life-time of achievements in Israeli Cinema
Cinema of Israel
Cinema of Israel refers to movie production in Israel since its founding in 1948. Most Israeli films are produced in Hebrew. Israel has been nominated for more Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film than any other country in the Middle East....
.
Heffner lectured for many years on film-making and screenwriting, at the Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...
.
His films are held at the Jewish film archives.
Influence
Heffner was a screenwriting lecturer in the mid-1970s at the Tel Aviv UniversityTel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...
, and influenced many well known Israeli filmmakers, like Eitan Green, Renen Shor, Ari Folman
Ari Folman
Ari Folman is an Israeli film director, screenwriter and film score composer.-Biography:Ari Folman was born in Haifa to Holocaust survivors. His wife is also a film director...
, Hagai Levi
Hagai Levi
Hagai Levi is an Israeli film and television director, writer, editor, producer and critic.Levi is perhaps most notably known for creating, directing and producing television drama BeTipul and for producing In Treatment, HBO's American adaptation of the show...
, Menashe Noy, Dover Kosashvili
Dover Kosashvili
Dover Kosashvili is an Israeli film director and screenwriter of Georgian descent. He has directed five films since 1998. His film Late Marriage was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival....
and many more.
Film he Wrote and Directed
- Slow Down (Short film, 1968)
- Seance (Short film, 1969)
- But Where Is Daniel Wax? (1972)
- Aunt Clara (1977)
- The Winchell Affair (1979)
- Laura Adler's Last Love Affair (1990)
- Eretz Ktana, Ish Gadol [Small Country, Great Man] (1998)