Solo Avital
Encyclopedia
Solo Avital is an Israeli filmmaker, visual effects artist and musician
.
animator, when the early Autodesk
3D Studio
was released to home users. Avital was first attracted to 3D as a hobby of creating psychedelic visuals for his music. Up to that point Avital was a professional bass player and student of the legendary Israeli musician/bass player Yossi Fine. In 1994 there was a growing demand for 3D animators all over the world and generous salaries for professionals in the field. Avital decided to turn his hobby to a new profession and was seeking for a school to enhance his knowledge and experience. The only school in Israel for 3D at that time was known as Telegraphics School of Arts. Avital sent a 7 seconds animation samples of his work to enroll as a student for the 8 months seminar, but was surprised to get a call back from the principle of the school explaining that the animation that he had created, are over qualified for beginner students and offers Avital to join the school as a teacher instead. Avital was teaching for 2 years and some of his graduates are today's leading 3D animators in various post-production houses in Israel.
In 1996 Avital was invited to Babelsberg studios in Germany
to create a complex character animation of the popular Machine-Man transformation of the 1927 film Metropolis by film director Fritz Lang
, who created this masterpiece at the very same studios. Avital had completed the work almost 2 months before the deadline and was offers to remain as the head of the 3D department. Avital stayed in Babelberg for nearly 5 years, in which he eventually moved from 3D to digital film compositing, working as a Domino artist on the Quantel
digital compositing tool for 35mm films.
In 2001 Avital returned to Israel to take a break from visual effect and decided to direct a short documentary film Keep on Dancing, portraying the psychic of young Israeli club goers trying to live a western lifestyle under the shadow of terror attacks. The film was not a commercial successes but nevertheless Avital decided to continue making documentary films.
In 2003 Avital completed his second documentary named Art Liberates for Israel documentary channel 8.
was his first international successful documentary. The film portrays 2 years in the life of Israel's war photographer Ziv Koren
, his daughter Shira and his model/actress wife Galit Gutman who was pregnant during the filming. The film received numerous international awards and also made history. It's the first Israeli film ever to be invited to be screened in Iran at the Teheran Fajr International Film Festival. The invitation sparked a controversial debate in the media across Iran's, Israel's and Europe, after the Iranian government banned the festival. The film producer Oliver Berben told Variety Magazine "It's really too bad, screening the film would have been a chance to bring people together. Art and movies should be above politics, but in this case they're apparently not."
Avital's 2008 German hit comedy Laughing in Tears
Starring: Iris Berben Featuring: Sara Silverman, Lewis Black, Ephraim Kishon, Harald Schmidt, Mario Barth, Gerhard Polt, Hana Laslo, Gil Koatch among other guest appearances.
Produced by Oliver Berben "MOOVIE the art of entertainment"
From 2008 till 2010 Avital had written and developed a script for an animated feature film titled THE POINT OF NO RETURN to be released in 2011.
An espionage thriller based on the bestseller book by Dr. Ronen Bergman "The Secret War with Iran. (Simon & Schuster)
Produced by: Ariel Vromen and Ehud Bleiberg
CINEMA - GERMANY.
2008 - Directed the music video "Drom America" for Dani Reichental -ISRAEL.
2007 - VFX supervision "Rosa Roth" GERMANY.
2006 - VFX supervision “Africa Mon Amour” - GERMANY.
2005 - VFX supervision “Die Patriarchin” - GERMANY.
1998 - Digital compositor “The Legend of 1900
” (Giuseppe Tornatore
) - UK.
1997 - Digital compositor “Lost In Space
” (Stephen Hopkins
) - UK.
:
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
.
1993 to 2006
Solo Avital started his filmmaking career in 1993 as a 3DStereoscopy
Stereoscopy refers to a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3-D depth...
animator, when the early Autodesk
Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that focuses on 3D design software for use in the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media and entertainment industries. The company was founded in 1982 by John Walker, a coauthor of the first versions of the company's...
3D Studio
3d studio
3d studio can refer to:* A studio location where 3D work is created* 3ds Max, an animation software package previously named 3D Studio Max* Any 3D animation studio such as 3ds Max, Blender 3D, Cinema 4D, Lightwave, Maya, Houdini, or XSI...
was released to home users. Avital was first attracted to 3D as a hobby of creating psychedelic visuals for his music. Up to that point Avital was a professional bass player and student of the legendary Israeli musician/bass player Yossi Fine. In 1994 there was a growing demand for 3D animators all over the world and generous salaries for professionals in the field. Avital decided to turn his hobby to a new profession and was seeking for a school to enhance his knowledge and experience. The only school in Israel for 3D at that time was known as Telegraphics School of Arts. Avital sent a 7 seconds animation samples of his work to enroll as a student for the 8 months seminar, but was surprised to get a call back from the principle of the school explaining that the animation that he had created, are over qualified for beginner students and offers Avital to join the school as a teacher instead. Avital was teaching for 2 years and some of his graduates are today's leading 3D animators in various post-production houses in Israel.
In 1996 Avital was invited to Babelsberg studios in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to create a complex character animation of the popular Machine-Man transformation of the 1927 film Metropolis by film director Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
, who created this masterpiece at the very same studios. Avital had completed the work almost 2 months before the deadline and was offers to remain as the head of the 3D department. Avital stayed in Babelberg for nearly 5 years, in which he eventually moved from 3D to digital film compositing, working as a Domino artist on the Quantel
Quantel
Quantel is a company based in the United Kingdom and founded in 1973 that designs and manufactures digital production equipment for the broadcast television, video production and motion picture industries...
digital compositing tool for 35mm films.
In 2001 Avital returned to Israel to take a break from visual effect and decided to direct a short documentary film Keep on Dancing, portraying the psychic of young Israeli club goers trying to live a western lifestyle under the shadow of terror attacks. The film was not a commercial successes but nevertheless Avital decided to continue making documentary films.
In 2003 Avital completed his second documentary named Art Liberates for Israel documentary channel 8.
2006 to 2010
Avital's 2006 film ...More Than 1000 Words...More Than 1000 Words
'...More Than 1000 Words' is a documentary film written, directed, shot, and edited by Solo Avital.The film explores the relationship between the photographer Ziv Koren and his work covering the Israel-Palestine conflict. It depicts his involvement covering various events over a two-year period up...
was his first international successful documentary. The film portrays 2 years in the life of Israel's war photographer Ziv Koren
Ziv Koren
Ziv Koren is an Israeli photojournalist, popular for his work showing the cruelties of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He has received many prizes, including the Simon Rokower Award, 1st Place for Excellence in Photography for "Last Look: A new Leash on Life" 2004.Ziv gained popularity with the...
, his daughter Shira and his model/actress wife Galit Gutman who was pregnant during the filming. The film received numerous international awards and also made history. It's the first Israeli film ever to be invited to be screened in Iran at the Teheran Fajr International Film Festival. The invitation sparked a controversial debate in the media across Iran's, Israel's and Europe, after the Iranian government banned the festival. The film producer Oliver Berben told Variety Magazine "It's really too bad, screening the film would have been a chance to bring people together. Art and movies should be above politics, but in this case they're apparently not."
Avital's 2008 German hit comedy Laughing in Tears
Starring: Iris Berben Featuring: Sara Silverman, Lewis Black, Ephraim Kishon, Harald Schmidt, Mario Barth, Gerhard Polt, Hana Laslo, Gil Koatch among other guest appearances.
Produced by Oliver Berben "MOOVIE the art of entertainment"
From 2008 till 2010 Avital had written and developed a script for an animated feature film titled THE POINT OF NO RETURN to be released in 2011.
An espionage thriller based on the bestseller book by Dr. Ronen Bergman "The Secret War with Iran. (Simon & Schuster)
Produced by: Ariel Vromen and Ehud Bleiberg
Director's Filmography
- 2008 - Laughing in Tears 90:MIN ZDFZDFZweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
- 2006 - ...More Than 1000 Words...More Than 1000 Words'...More Than 1000 Words' is a documentary film written, directed, shot, and edited by Solo Avital.The film explores the relationship between the photographer Ziv Koren and his work covering the Israel-Palestine conflict. It depicts his involvement covering various events over a two-year period up...
, 79:MIN - 2004 - Art Liberates, 54:MIN
- 2003 - Keep On Dancing, 24:MIN
Highlights
2009 - Directed the 4K digital cinema logo animation for UFAUFA
Ufa is a city in Russia.UFA or Ufa may also refer to:*Ufa River, a river in Russia*Ufa, Ethiopia, a town in Ethiopia*Ultra flat architecture, a network architecture design for LTE 4G mobile telecommunication networks...
CINEMA - GERMANY.
2008 - Directed the music video "Drom America" for Dani Reichental -ISRAEL.
2007 - VFX supervision "Rosa Roth" GERMANY.
2006 - VFX supervision “Africa Mon Amour” - GERMANY.
2005 - VFX supervision “Die Patriarchin” - GERMANY.
1998 - Digital compositor “The Legend of 1900
The Legend of 1900
The Legend of 1900 is a 1998 film directed by the Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore, starring Tim Roth. This is Tornatore's first English-language film. The film is inspired by a theater monologue, Novecento, by Alessandro Baricco...
” (Giuseppe Tornatore
Giuseppe Tornatore
-Life and career:Born in Bagheria near Palermo, Tornatore developed an interest in acting and the theatre from at least the age of 16 and put on works by Luigi Pirandello and Eduardo De Filippo.He worked initially as a freelance photographer...
) - UK.
1997 - Digital compositor “Lost In Space
Lost in Space
Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...
” (Stephen Hopkins
Stephen Hopkins (director)
Stephen Hopkins is a Jamaican-born film director and producer. He is best-known for his continuation of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise with A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child and the Predator franchise with Predator 2...
) - UK.
Awards
Awards for his film ...More Than 1000 Words...More Than 1000 Words
'...More Than 1000 Words' is a documentary film written, directed, shot, and edited by Solo Avital.The film explores the relationship between the photographer Ziv Koren and his work covering the Israel-Palestine conflict. It depicts his involvement covering various events over a two-year period up...
:
- 2007 Warsaw Phoenix Award and Best Audience Choice, Warsaw Film Festival - Poland
- 2006 Best Feature Documentary, Winnipeg International Film Festival - Canada
- 2006 Margrit & Robert Mondavi Film Prize for Peace and Understanding, Napa Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival - USA
- 2006 Best Feature Film, BRIDGE International Film Festival - Canada
- 2006 Best Professional Documentary, REEL to REAL Film Festival - USA
- 2006 Best Israeli Film and Best Film of the Festival, Youngstown's Jewish Film Festival - USA