New York City, October 29, 2008. The 23 rd
Israel Film Festival kicked off its Opening
Night at the legendary Ziegfeld Theatre in
New York City. Guests of honor were award
winning directors, writers and producers
Danny DeVito, Irwin Winkler, and Edward
Zwick. The Festival will visit the cities
of Miami in December and Los Angeles in
June.
Talented comedian, actress, and singer
Lainie Kazan was the Emcee of the evenings
festivities. Michael Douglas, Mort
Zuckerman, and Liev Schrieber were the
Honorary Guest Presenters of the awards.
Danny DeVito was accompanied by Rhea Perlman.
He was presented with the IFF Lifetime
Visionary Award by colleague Michael
Douglas. Guest presenter Mort Zuckerman gave
Irwin Winkler the IFF Lifetime Achievement
Award. Edward Zwick received the IFF
Outstanding Achievement in Film Award from
Liev Schrieber.
Guests enjoyed the US premiere of Rashef
Levy's Lost Islands after the awards
ceremony. The film was the biggest Box
Office success in Israel in 2008.
A portion of the proceeds from the 23 rd IFF
Opening Gala will provide scholarships to
exceptional Israeli film students from six
film schools in Israel including: The Sam
Spiegal Film & TV School Jerusalem, Sapir
Academic College Shderot, Ma'ale School of
Television Film & Arts, Tel Aviv University
Film and Television Dept., Hamidrasha
Biat-Berl Collage and Tel Hai Communications
Center for Cinema.
To learn more go to:
www.israelfilmfestival.com
Story and photo by Sara Herbert-Galloway