ALL LABS' NEWS

Hot off the success of his first feature "Karaoke", Lab alum Moshe Rosenthal just finished principal shooting of his second feature film, "Independence", which he developed at our 7th edition. The film is produced by Green Productions.
Best of luck to Moshe and the whole team!

We were happy to see the film “Windless”, by Pavel G. Vesnakov, which was screened at the Haifa International Film Festival this week. The film was developed at the 9th edition of the Film Lab and we are proud to see that it is screening at an Israeli festival.

Congratulations to Film Lab alumni Tom Nesher, which was selected for Variety's prestigious Directors to Watch list 2025.

Nesher participated in the Lab's 9th edition, where she developed the script for "Come Closer", which premiered this year in Tribeca winning the Viewpoints Award. Later this year, the film won 4 Israeli Academy Awards including Best Film, making it Israel's representative in this year's Academy Awards.

This is the 28th year that Variety identifies up-and-coming directors, and alongside Nesher, this year the list also includes filmmakers Coralie Fargeat (“The Substance”), Malcolm Washington (“The Piano Lesson”) and Halina Reijn (“Babygirl”). Each filmmaker will be profiled in an upcoming Variety print edition.

The third edition of the Series Lab concluded in LA last week with "The Lampshade" by screenwriter Tomer Shushan and producer Yoav Gross winning the first prize.
In cooperation with SCRIPTED ISRAEL, the participants of the Lab got to hear fascinating creators and meet accomplished professionals from the American industry.
Thanks to our supporters and partners who have helped us along this journey: New Mandate Films, Scripted Israel, Jerusalem Municipality, Gideon Tadmor and the Sam Spiegel Estate.
From here the projects go out into the world - good luck to everyone!

The road to the Oscars started yesterday for the film "Come Closer" which was developed in our 9th edition, and will represent Israel in the qualification to the Academy Awards, after winning 4 Ophir Awards, including the Best Picture and Best Director! So proud of director Tom Nesher and her whole team.

Photographers: Lior Horesh, Dekel Lazimi Lev

Wonderful news and a big congratulations to our 9th edition participants Marianna Bernnand Fortes and Carolina Benevides! "Manas" just won the Venice Days director’s award.
A powerful and important story, we are proud that this film began its journey with us - and can't wait to see what happens next!

The third edition of our Series Lab has just ended another intensive session.
This week our 8 teams had an in-depth working week that included masterclasses from special guests TV creator and screenwriter ("Die Zweiflers") David Hadda, talking about the state of Jewish storytelling; content editor and screenwriter Omri Marcus discussing the use of AI as an empowering creative tool; and leading expert and producer Danna Stern on navigating the global scripted industry.
But mostly our participants had productive and instructive one-on-one meetings with our team of expert mentors: Noah Stollman, Keren Margalit, Ossi Nishri and Gal Zaid.
What a great week!

Photo by: Yossi Zwecker

Last night we celebrated at the awards ceremony of the 12th edition of the Sam Spiegel International Film Lab:
The Sam Spiegel International Film Lab $50,000 Grand Prize, donated by the Beracha Foundation was awarded to The Good Fence, by Hillel Rate, producer Lev Orlov. The jury headed by Roland Teichmann, CEO of the Austrian Film Institute, stated “The Good Fence portrays the conflicted relationship between a father and son in the settlements, in the wake of a family tragedy. It avoids simple answers while looking unblinkingly at the most complex issues of our time".
The Sam Spiegel International Film Lab Emerging Filmmaker Award in the amount of $20,000 was granted to Who Lives There, by Omer Ben-David, Vera Grinblat, producer Estee Meckleberg, Israel. The jury statement read:“Through an unforgettable portrait of an adolescent learning to navigate the social corridors of her religious boarding school, Who Lives There explores the sacrifices we sometimes must make in the course of defending ourselves, and how we recover from them".
We want to thank our dear partners: Beracha Foundation; the Rothschild Foundation; the Israel Film Fund, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Embassy of Hungary in Israel; the French Embassy and French Institute; Carol Polakoff; and our constant supporters, the Sam Spiegel Estate.

We are thrilled to congratulate Tom Nesher for her significant prizes at the Jerusalem Film Festival! Her film "Close to Me", developed at our 9th edition, won the GWFF Award for Best Israeli First Feature.
And Maya Dreifuss for her Special Mention at the Jerusalem Film Festival for "Highway 65" which was developed at the 6th Sam Spiegel International Film Lab!

Picture: Tom Weintraub Louk

The 13th Edition of the Sam Spiegel International Film Lab is open for submissions!
For over a decade the JSFL has supported the development of groundbreaking feature films from Israel and the world.
If you are in the early stages of writing your first or second screenplay for a feature, we invite you to join our creative community.
Submissions are open until JUNE 19, 2024!

*Israeli projects can be submitted through the open call. International projects can be submitted by Invitation only

Good news for the film "Windless", by Pavel G. Vesnakov, which was developed in our 9th edition: It's world premiere is set for the upcoming Karlovy Vary festival, taking place at the end of June in Czech Republic.
Additionally, after this happy notification, it has been announced the film was picked up by the sales company Alpha Violet for international sales.
Good luck!

Photo credit: Red Carpet

Big congratulations to our Lab graduate Tom Nesher whose film “Come Closer”, which was developed at the 9th edition of the JSFL, won the Viewpoints Award after a world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

The jury stated: “From alien abductions, to a ski team in Afghanistan, to a young man investigating the murder of his father, the diverse films of the Viewpoint category inspired all of us to think and feel deeply. However, when choosing a winner, our decision was unanimous. This film pulled us all in from the first few frames and we felt that we were in skillful hands as it is fiercely executed and superbly performed.”

Congratulations!