Israeli documentary filmmaking has reached major awards through animation, personal testimony and investigations of national events. Ari Folman’s animated documentary Waltz with Bashir won the 2009 Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language and earned an Academy Award nomination. In 2013, 5 Broken Cameras and The Gatekeepers were both nominated for the Academy Award for Documentary Feature.
Waltz with Bashir combined animation and testimony
Released in 2008, Waltz with Bashir follows Folman as he interviews fellow veterans about their memories of the 1982 Lebanon War. Its animated images represent recollections and gaps in memory rather than conventional live-action archival scenes. The film was Israel’s nominee in the Academy’s foreign-language category and became one of the few animated documentaries to receive that nomination.
The film won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language in 2009. The Golden Globes archive credits Folman as director and records the win for Israel. It was also nominated for the Academy Award in the foreign-language category; the Academy database lists the nomination. Its success at two major US award ceremonies brought an animated Israeli documentary to a broad international audience.
Two Israeli documentaries reached the 2013 Oscar final
5 Broken Cameras, directed by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi, documents Burnat’s family and community in the village of Bil’in through footage he recorded over several years. The Gatekeepers, directed by Dror Moreh, features interviews with six former heads of Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet. Each film was nominated for the 2013 Academy Award for Documentary Feature. The Times of Israel’s contemporary report records the paired nominations. Neither won; the nomination itself placed both works among the five final films in the category.
Festivals sustain documentary audiences
Tel Aviv’s Docaviv festival presents Israeli and international nonfiction cinema, with annual programs and awards. The festival’s official site publishes its current program and information about the event. Festival selection gives filmmakers a route to audiences and industry attention separate from Academy or Golden Globe voting.
Tribeca has also programmed Folman’s film. Its festival archive preserves the title in its program history. The distinctions are specific: Waltz with Bashir won a Golden Globe and received an Academy nomination, while 5 Broken Cameras and The Gatekeepers reached the documentary-feature Oscar shortlist as nominees. For Israeli films nominated in the Academy’s international feature category, see Israeli Academy Award nominees.