The Sam Spiegel Film and Television School

mourns the death of visionary founding director

Renen Schorr Heller

It is with profound sorrow that we share the heartbreaking news of the sudden passing of Renen Schorr, the visionary founder of the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School.

His passing marks the end of an era, leaving an immeasurable legacy not only in Israeli cinema but also in the hearts of all those who had the privilege to learn from, work alongside, and be inspired by him. Renen was the visionary founder of the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School, which he established in 1989 and led for over three decades delivering the school to great international recognition.

The school has an impressive list of graduates, including Nadav Lapid, Nir Bergman, Talya Lavie, Rama Burshtein and Ra’anan Alexandrowicz.

Schorr was also founding director of the school’s Sam Spiegel International Film Lab in 2011. The Lab has developed successful international films including Laszlo Nemes’s Oscar-winning Son Of Saul, Lapid’s The Kindergarten Teacherand Antoneta Kusijanovic’s Murina.

Schorr was a film director, screenwriter, film producer and Israeli film activist. Over the last 40 years he founded or co-founded the infrastructure of Israeli film funds and cinematheques. In 2016 he was awarded the Chevalier des arts et lettres by the French government and in 2024 the Ministry of Culture awarded him a life time achievement award.

Schorr was the driving force behind Israel’s addition to the European Film Academy in 2001; the founder of the Cinematheques in both Herzliya and Holon (2007, 2008); and the initiator and founding director of the Sam Spiegel International Film Lab in 2011.

Among his films as director are A Wedding in Jerusalem (1985); Late Summer Blues (1987); The Loners (2009) and most recently Wake Up, Grandson - Letters to my Rebellious Rabbi (2023).