Yaky Yosha
Encyclopedia
Yaky Yosha is an international critically acclaimed, award-winning film director
from Israel
, known for realism. Yosha’s films have often stirred social controversy in his homeland and outside of it. About his work Yosha once said: "Art only as Aesthetics is meaningless. As an artist, I am trying to grasp the meaning of life. I ask questions related to myself and to the country in which I was born. I am trying to make movies and thus to find the answers. God knows if I’ll ever find them…" His films were shown at Cannes
, IDFA, Locarno
and other international film festivals.
epic as its soundtrack, and The Killers (1970), based on a story by Hemingway
.
In 1972 Yosha directed Shalom
, his first feature film. The movie was independently produced and most of the cast and crew were personal friends. Young Yosha acted in the lead role while his wife, Dorit, who produced the film, played the female lead. Due to financial difficulties, the production extended for over a year. A similar period was needed for editing, and finally "the first and probably last Israeli hippie
film," was completed. Shalom was considered prophetic, and regarded as the first political Israeli film ever made. Released immediately following the Yom Kippur War
(1973), the film was a flop at the box office.
Yosha's second film, Rockinghorse
(1978), is considered one of the masterpieces of Israeli cinema, and was the first film to represent Israel in the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes Film Festival
. The movie went on to premiere in film festivals around the globe, and took home the special jury prize and best actor award in the Oxford International Film Festival
.
The Vulture
(1981) dealt with the problematic "Industry of Death that lies behind Israel's wars". The film provoked great controversy among the Israeli public, which felt the film has crossed a blood-red line. The Israeli censors cut “The Vulture”, but when selected to represent Israel in the Cannes Film Festival, it was screened abroad in its uncut version.
A year later, Yosha directed Dead End Street
, inspired by the true story of a young prostitute who took part in the making of the documentary about her efforts to abandon the streets, only to commit suicide hours before the film was broadcast. Bruce Springsteen
agreed to contribute three songs to the soundtrack for free. Like Yosha's previous two films, Dead end Street also represented Israel at Cannes. The
Summertime Blues
, released in 1984, is a movie about youth, about the last summer vacation right before the army
, in the dawn of the Lebanon war, about the beach, bikes, girls and rock and roll.
In the mid 1980s Yosha landed in Los Angeles
, and in 1992 he directed the erotic-thriller Sexual Response, starring Shannon Tweed
and Catharine Oxenberg, distributed by Colombia TriStar
.
In 1995, upon his return to Israel, Yosha focused on writing and directing for television. He wrote and directed the drama series, Night Fare, as well as two movies made for television Joint and Junky. In 1997, he returned to the big screen with Bloodguilt, a dark tale of a dangerous romantic triangle based on the biblical story of Jacob
, Rachel
and Leah
. The following year, Yosha directed Shabazi
, a feature film based on the television series Night Fare. In 1999 he joined police patrol cars, documenting pursuits, arrests, and all the moments in between. Those nights became the Israeli version of Cops
.
In 2000 Yosha directed a feature length documentary, Inherit the Earth
, narrated by Liam Neeson
, about the preparations for the Pope's
historic visit to Israel. During the making of Inherit the Earth, Yosha met major general Alik Ron, the Israeli northern district police chief, who became the subject of his next documentary The Main Suspect
(2002), selected to the International Documentary Film Festival (Amsterdam) in 2003.
Between the years 2003-2005 Yosha directed four documentaries about a Christian sect that lives according to the principles of Christ's first followers.
"Still Walking", Yaky Yosha's first novel was published in Hebrew in March 2008. His latest feature "Walking" premiered on 2010. According to Yosha: "Still Walking is going to be Shalom's
older brother, and show the same youngsters pondering over the social and political state they live in, when they're a generation older. The film, following the book, will track them down when all is without hope." Yaky yosha said that he does not intend to bring social change with this film and that he had long forsaken the idea that art can fix anything. He was also cited calling this film mere lament to a country that has lost its path to militarism and cruelty.
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:...
from Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, known for realism. Yosha’s films have often stirred social controversy in his homeland and outside of it. About his work Yosha once said: "Art only as Aesthetics is meaningless. As an artist, I am trying to grasp the meaning of life. I ask questions related to myself and to the country in which I was born. I am trying to make movies and thus to find the answers. God knows if I’ll ever find them…" His films were shown at Cannes
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
, IDFA, Locarno
Locarno International Film Festival
The Film Festival Locarno is an international film festival held annually in the city of Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. After Cannes and Venice and together with Karlovy Vary, Locarno is the Film Festival with the longest history...
and other international film festivals.
Biography
Yaky Yosha was born in Tel-Aviv in 1951. In his youth, he created several shorts including The End (1968) with The DoorsThe Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
epic as its soundtrack, and The Killers (1970), based on a story by Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
.
In 1972 Yosha directed Shalom
Shalom (film)
Hailed by critics as "the first and probably last Israeli hippie film", Shalom is director Yaky Yosha's first feature.It attempts to answer the dilemmas and distresses youth in the pre Yom Kippur War Israel.- Plot :...
, his first feature film. The movie was independently produced and most of the cast and crew were personal friends. Young Yosha acted in the lead role while his wife, Dorit, who produced the film, played the female lead. Due to financial difficulties, the production extended for over a year. A similar period was needed for editing, and finally "the first and probably last Israeli hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
film," was completed. Shalom was considered prophetic, and regarded as the first political Israeli film ever made. Released immediately following the Yom Kippur War
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
(1973), the film was a flop at the box office.
Yosha's second film, Rockinghorse
Rocking Horse
Rocking Horse is director Yaky Yosha's second feature made in 1978. It was the first film to represent Israel in the Directors’ Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival. It also participated at Locarno, San-Francisco, Chicago and many other international festivals...
(1978), is considered one of the masterpieces of Israeli cinema, and was the first film to represent Israel in the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
. The movie went on to premiere in film festivals around the globe, and took home the special jury prize and best actor award in the Oxford International Film Festival
Oxford International Film Festival
The Oxford International Film Festival was established in Oxford, Ohio in 2007 by founder and event director J.C. Schroder.-Festival History:...
.
The Vulture
The Vulture (film)
Director Yaky Yosha's third feature, The Vulture, first screened in 1981, not long before the first war in Lebanon, dealt with the problematic immortalization industry resultant from young war casualties. The film provoked great controversy among the Israeli public, which felt it has crossed a...
(1981) dealt with the problematic "Industry of Death that lies behind Israel's wars". The film provoked great controversy among the Israeli public, which felt the film has crossed a blood-red line. The Israeli censors cut “The Vulture”, but when selected to represent Israel in the Cannes Film Festival, it was screened abroad in its uncut version.
A year later, Yosha directed Dead End Street
Dead End Street
Dead End Street is a 1982 film directed by Yaky Yosha. Inspired by a true story, it is about a young prostitute who participated in a documentary about her efforts to abandon the streets, only to commit suicide hours before the movie was to be broadcast....
, inspired by the true story of a young prostitute who took part in the making of the documentary about her efforts to abandon the streets, only to commit suicide hours before the film was broadcast. Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
agreed to contribute three songs to the soundtrack for free. Like Yosha's previous two films, Dead end Street also represented Israel at Cannes. The
Summertime Blues
Summertime Blues (film)
Director Yaky Yosha's Summertime Blues is a youth drama about the last summer before the army, the last summer altogether.-Plot:Summertime Blues is the last summer before the army, an early 1980s Tel-Aviv summer, during the War of Attrition with Egypt.Four friends are walking on the wild side...
, released in 1984, is a movie about youth, about the last summer vacation right before the army
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
, in the dawn of the Lebanon war, about the beach, bikes, girls and rock and roll.
In the mid 1980s Yosha landed in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, and in 1992 he directed the erotic-thriller Sexual Response, starring Shannon Tweed
Shannon Tweed
Shannon Lee Tweed is a Canadian actress and model. One of the most successful actresses of mainstream erotica, she is identified with the genre of the erotic thriller...
and Catharine Oxenberg, distributed by Colombia TriStar
TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. is an American film production/distribution studio and subsidiary of Columbia Pictures, itself a subdivision of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, which is owned by Sony Pictures...
.
In 1995, upon his return to Israel, Yosha focused on writing and directing for television. He wrote and directed the drama series, Night Fare, as well as two movies made for television Joint and Junky. In 1997, he returned to the big screen with Bloodguilt, a dark tale of a dangerous romantic triangle based on the biblical story of Jacob
Jacob
Jacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the...
, Rachel
Rachel
Rachel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, is a prophet and the favorite wife of Jacob, one of the three Biblical Patriarchs, and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. She was the daughter of Laban and the younger sister of Leah, Jacob's first wife...
and Leah
Leah
Leah , as described in the Hebrew Bible, is the first of the two concurrent wives of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob and mother of six of sons whose descendants became the Twelve Tribes of Israel, along with at least one daughter, Dinah. She is the daughter of Laban and the older sister of Rachel, whom...
. The following year, Yosha directed Shabazi
Shabazi (film)
based on the TV drama series "Night Fare", "Shabazi" is film director Yaky Yosha's eighth feature film.-Plot:Danny lives in a one bedroom apartment in "Shabazi", a run down neighborhood crumbling over the heads of its inhabitants – dirt poor day laborers, junkies and the homeless, who find refuge...
, a feature film based on the television series Night Fare. In 1999 he joined police patrol cars, documenting pursuits, arrests, and all the moments in between. Those nights became the Israeli version of Cops
COPS (TV series)
Cops is an American documentary/reality television series that follows police officers, constables, and sheriff's deputies during patrols and other police activities...
.
In 2000 Yosha directed a feature length documentary, Inherit the Earth
Inherit the Earth (film)
Director Yaky Yosha's first documentary feature, Inherit the Earth documents the combined efforts of Christians and Jews to make the Pope's visit to the Holy Land a successful one....
, narrated by Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
, about the preparations for the Pope's
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
historic visit to Israel. During the making of Inherit the Earth, Yosha met major general Alik Ron, the Israeli northern district police chief, who became the subject of his next documentary The Main Suspect
The Main Suspect
In his documentary The Main Suspect, director Yaky Yosha attempted to explore the circumstances which lead to the deaths of thirteen Israeli Arabs during the October 2000 events which triggered the ongoing Intifada.Israel, October 1 2000....
(2002), selected to the International Documentary Film Festival (Amsterdam) in 2003.
Between the years 2003-2005 Yosha directed four documentaries about a Christian sect that lives according to the principles of Christ's first followers.
"Still Walking", Yaky Yosha's first novel was published in Hebrew in March 2008. His latest feature "Walking" premiered on 2010. According to Yosha: "Still Walking is going to be Shalom's
Shalom (film)
Hailed by critics as "the first and probably last Israeli hippie film", Shalom is director Yaky Yosha's first feature.It attempts to answer the dilemmas and distresses youth in the pre Yom Kippur War Israel.- Plot :...
older brother, and show the same youngsters pondering over the social and political state they live in, when they're a generation older. The film, following the book, will track them down when all is without hope." Yaky yosha said that he does not intend to bring social change with this film and that he had long forsaken the idea that art can fix anything. He was also cited calling this film mere lament to a country that has lost its path to militarism and cruelty.
Filmography
- 1968 "Peace and…" 15 Min. (director, writer, actor)
- 1969 "The End" 20 Min. (director, writer, actor)
- 1970 "The Killers" 45 Min. (director, writer)
- 1973 "ShalomShalom (film)Hailed by critics as "the first and probably last Israeli hippie film", Shalom is director Yaky Yosha's first feature.It attempts to answer the dilemmas and distresses youth in the pre Yom Kippur War Israel.- Plot :...
" 80 Min. (director, writer, actor, composer) - 1978 "Rocking HorseRocking HorseRocking Horse is director Yaky Yosha's second feature made in 1978. It was the first film to represent Israel in the Directors’ Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival. It also participated at Locarno, San-Francisco, Chicago and many other international festivals...
" 90 Min. (director, writer, editor) - 1981 "The VultureThe Vulture (film)Director Yaky Yosha's third feature, The Vulture, first screened in 1981, not long before the first war in Lebanon, dealt with the problematic immortalization industry resultant from young war casualties. The film provoked great controversy among the Israeli public, which felt it has crossed a...
" 92 Min. (director, writer, editor) - 1982 "Dead End StreetDead End StreetDead End Street is a 1982 film directed by Yaky Yosha. Inspired by a true story, it is about a young prostitute who participated in a documentary about her efforts to abandon the streets, only to commit suicide hours before the movie was to be broadcast....
" 90 Min. (director, writer) - 1984 "Summertime BluesSummertime Blues (film)Director Yaky Yosha's Summertime Blues is a youth drama about the last summer before the army, the last summer altogether.-Plot:Summertime Blues is the last summer before the army, an early 1980s Tel-Aviv summer, during the War of Attrition with Egypt.Four friends are walking on the wild side...
" 90 Min. (director, writer, editor) - 1992 "Sexual Response" 90 Min. (director)
- 1995-1997 "Night Fare" TV Series 25 Min.X13 Ep. (Series 1: director, writer. Series 2: director, writer, editor)
- 1997 "Joint" 30 Min. (director, writer)
- 1997 "Junky" 50 Min. (director, writer)
- 1998 "BloodguiltBloodguiltBloodguilt, Yaky Yosha's seventh feature film, is a dark thriller about a dangerous love triangle, inspired by the biblical romance of Jacob, Rachel and Leah.-Plot:...
" 85 Min. (director, writer) - 1997 "Shabazi" 90 Min. (director, writer, editor)
- 1999-2000 "Israeli Cops" Documentary TV Series 30 Min.X12 Ep.(director, editor)
- 2001 "Inherit the EarthInherit the Earth (film)Director Yaky Yosha's first documentary feature, Inherit the Earth documents the combined efforts of Christians and Jews to make the Pope's visit to the Holy Land a successful one....
" 80 Min. (director, writer, editor) - 2003 "The Main SuspectThe Main SuspectIn his documentary The Main Suspect, director Yaky Yosha attempted to explore the circumstances which lead to the deaths of thirteen Israeli Arabs during the October 2000 events which triggered the ongoing Intifada.Israel, October 1 2000....
" 60 Min. (director, writer, editor, narrator) - 2003 "God Provides" (director, writer, editor)
- 2004 "For the love of my brothers and friends" (director, editor)
- 2004 "Salt of the Earth" (director, editor)
- 2006 "Lior" 15 Min. (director, writer, editor)
- 2010 "WalkingWalkingWalking is one of the main gaits of locomotion among legged animals, and is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults over the stiff limb or limbs with each step...
" 90 min. (director, writer, editor)
External links
- Yaky Yosha's official website
- About Yaky Yosha on Cannes Festival's Director's Fortnight's website
- about Yosha on Cinema South International Film Festival's website
- "A matured hippie", an interview with Yaky Yosha by Nirit Anderman, "Haaretz"
- "Prince of tides", an interview with Shmulik Kraus about the movie "Rockinghorse"