A bill initiated by Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar that would provide additional support to Israeli filmmakers and film foundations passed its first reading in the Knesset plenum this week.
Zohar's proposal, titled 'The Cinema Bill', would establish procedures for state-supported film funds, as they would no longer need to employ script evaluators from the government and would be able to select professional reviewers independently.
Evaluators were originally intended to increase transparency and social diversity among screenwriters, but in practice, the process was found to have failed to achieve its goals and brought unnecessary bureaucracy and excess costs – sometimes harming the level of professionalism, according to the bill.
“This is an important step towards giving back Israeli cinema to the Israeli audience," Zohar said. "The public will determine the films they want to see and who they want to finance. We continue to work for a free, diverse and high-quality culture, while reducing unnecessary government intervention and increasing trust in creators and professionals.”
Reforming Israeli cinema in the country
Last month, Zohar posted on X/Twitter that the film, No Other Land, winning Best Documentary at the 97th Academy Awards was a “sad moment” and “sabotage against the State of Israel, especially in the wake of the October 7 massacre and the ongoing war,” while noting that the documentary in particular was not funded by film funds based in Israel, justifying his ministry’s decision to focus on funding Israeli movies that are likely to be hits, such as comedies featuring big stars, rather than more artistic movies or documentaries.
“This is precisely why we passed a reform in state-funded cinema – to ensure that taxpayer money is directed toward works of art that speak to the Israeli audience, rather than an industry that builds its career on slandering Israel on the global stage,” he added. The initiation of his week's bill that passed in the Knesset is part of Zohar's promise to reform Israeli cinema in the country.
Numerous Israeli films had been released during the past year, with many of them having had screenings last Wednesday in movie theaters all over Israel for only NIS 10. These include The Ring, Matchmaking 2, Soda, The Milky Way, and Highway 65.
Hannah Brown contributed to this report.
