Israeli film on haredi homosexuality takes top honors at Rome film fest

Wednesday, November 25, 2009 | by

The Israeli film “Eyes Wide Open” won the main Eros and Psyche Prize at the 15th annual MedFilm Festival in Rome, which ended Nov. 15.

The controversial film, directed by Haim Tabakman and starring Ran Danker and Zohar Strauss as ultra-Orthodox men in Jerusalem who become romantically involved, is a co-production of Israel, France and Germany.

“This film opens our eyes to a strong, sometimes uncomfortable truth, which speaks about homosexuality in the Orthodox community in Jerusalem,” said Pamela Priori of the Israeli embassy in Rome. Priori accepted the prize Nov. 14 on behalf of Tabakman, who was unable to attend the festival.

“This film is representative of a certain type of Israeli filmmaking, a courageous filmmaking, which we see especially when they speak of war, such as [Golden Globe winner for best foreign language film] ‘Waltz with Bashir,’ or ‘Lebanon,’ [which won the Golden Lion award for best film],” she said.

“Eyes Wide Open” also received awards at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. And it captured the grand prize last month at the 36th Ghent International Film Festival in Belgium.

A total of 150 films were featured at this year’s MedFilm Festival, which opened on Nov. 7.

On its Web site, the Mediterranean film festival noted that “Eyes Wide Open” was honored “for its direction and film’s great formal style, which challenge an unpredictable promiscuity between religion and sex.”

— ynetnews.com