Looking for a hero? The movies have given us many different heroes and anti-heroes throughout the years, nurturing our fantasies and aspirations. The Sam Spiegel Film and Televsion School, Jerusalem will open the academic year with their traditional conference, this year’s theme will be “The Cinematic Hero.” 40 leading cultural figures will each present their hero from international and/or Israeli cinema. The conference will take place on November 10, 2011, from 10:00 – 22:00 at the Jerusalem Cinematheque and will be open to the public, as in every year, admission will be free.
The participants reflect a wide range of different creative disciplines and age groups, their choices creating a panoramic image of those timeless onscreen heroes who have shaped our dreams and world view. Each participant will have 15 minutes to discuss their choice.
The participants and their choices: Moshe Ivgy – to be announced; Nahman Ingber – Lidia in La Notte (1961)/Michelangelo Antonioni; Yuval Albashan – Daniel Lefebvre in It All Starts Today (1999)/Bertrand Tavernier; Gila Almagor-Agmon – Ken (Marlon Brando) in The Men (1950)/Fred Zinneman; Dr. Dana Arieli-Horvitz – Henrik Hoefgen (Klaus Maria Brandauer) in Mephisto (1981)/István Szabó; Adi Ashkenazi – to be announced; Tomer Bohadana – Zorba (Anthony Quinn) in Zorba the Greek (1964)/ Mihalis Kakogiannis; Prof. Shlomo Biderman – Clare Quilty (Peter Sellers) in Lolita (1962)/Stanley Kubrick; Prof. Menahem Ben Sasson – McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)/Milos Forman; Dr. Micha Goodman – Prof. Skolnik (Shlomo Bar-Aba) in Footnote (2011)/Joseph Cedar; Menahem Golan – Zampano (Anthony Quinn) in La Strada (1954)/Federico Fellini; Ilana Dayan – to be announced; Nissim Dayan – to be announced; David Traktover – Captain Queeg (Humphrey Bogart) in The Caine Mutiny (1954)/Edward Dmytryk; Prof. Yossi Yizraeli – Marshal Will Kane (Gary Cooper) in High Noon (1952)/Fred Zinneman; Prof. Rebecca Carmi – Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayek) in Frida (2002)/Julie Taymor; Gideon Levy – Paul (Marlon Brando) in The Last Tango in Paris (1972)/Bernardo Bertolucci; Hagi Levy – Jake Lamotta (Robert De Niro) in Raging Bull (1980)/Martin Scorcese; Nadav Lapid – Zinedine Zidane in Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (2006)/Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno; Yossi Madmoni – Jeffrey Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) in The Big Lebowski (1998)/Joel and Ethan Coen; Ronit Matalon – Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)/Blake Edwards; Rivka Michaeli – Hanina (Sulika Kadosh) in 7 Days (2008)/Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz; Aggy Mishol – Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) in Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)/W. S. Van Dyke; Judd Neeman – Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance(1962)/John Ford; Ohad Naharin – to be announced; Avi Nir – to be announced; Avi Nesher – Pat Garret (James Coburn) in Pat Garret and Billy the Kid (1973)/Sam Pekinpah; Joshua Sobol – Guido Orefice (Roberto Benigni ) in Life is Beautiful (1997)/Roberto Benigni; Shaanan Streett – the brothers Jake and Elwood (John Belushi and Dan Akroyd) in The Blues Brothers (1980)/John Landis; Joseph Cedar – Judah Rosenthal (Martin Landau) in Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)/Woody Allen; Gideon Amichai – Howard Roark (Gary Cooper) in The Fountainhead (1949)/King Vidor; Ari Fullman – Jonathan Zimmerman (Bruno Ganz) in The American Friend (1977)/Wim Wenders; Hanoch Fiben – Maude (Ruth Gordon) in Harold and Maude (1971)/Hal Ashby; Oded Kotler – Cal Trask (James Dean) in East of Eden (1955)/Elia Kazan; Regev Contes – Harry Block (Woody Allen) in Deconstructing Harry (1997)/Woody Allen; Yoram Kaniuk – Jerry Travers (Fred Astaire) in Top Hat (1935)/Mark Sandrich; Sayed Kashua – Ali in Love On the Pyramids (1984)/Atef el Tayeb; Dorit Rabinyan – Linda (Linda Manz) in Days of Heaven (1978)/Terence Malick; Eran Riklis – Robert Eroica Dupea (Jack Nicholson) in Five Easy Pieces (1970)/Bob Rafelson; Dr. Ariel Schweitzer – Shalom (Yaky Yosha) in Shalom Tfilat Haderech (1973)/Yaky Yosha; Rina Sheinfeld – Pina Bausch in Pina (2011)/Wim Wenders; Zruya Shalev – Pomme (Isabelle Huppert) in The Lacemaker (1977)/Claude Goretta; Prof. Avigdor Shaanan – Moses in The Prince of Egypt (1998)/Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, Simon Wells.
Who is your cinematic hero?
The Sam Spiegel School Conference: The Cinematic Hero is made possible through the support of the Ostrovsky Fund, the Marc Rich Fund and the Jerusalem Cinematheque, and will take place on November 10, 2011 at the Jerusalem Cinematheque.
