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First Place Jerusalem Film Festival Wonderful news! Rachel Shatz's documentary "Things That Have No Name" won the The Siena Film Foundation Award for Best Student Film! A powerful and delicate portrayal of two sisters and their complicated past.

NEWS Introducing the new JSFL Series Lab The Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film School is launching the inaugural Series Lab supported by Netflix and ViacomCBS International Studios. The Series Lab follows on from the acclaimed Sam Spiegel Film Lab now in its 10th year. This new Series Lab is a natural extension of the educational vision of the JSFS which has a long track record of nurturing local talent and will support the development of scripted series by young creators based in Israel. The Series Lab aims to provide the support and networks to help participants thrive in the global scripted television market. A Netflix partnership to support the next generation of creators in Israel | Larry Tanz | The Blogs (timesofisrael.com) Series Lab | Jerusalem (jsfs.co.il)

News Series Lab second edition kicks off The Sam Spiegel Series Lab heads into second edition with Netflix, Joe Peracchio (“The Flash”), Ossi Nishri (“Scenes of a Marriage”) and Dror Mishani (“The Missing File”) joining as mentors. The Lab also added new partnership deals with film & TV production company New Mandate Films, United King Films, The Jerusalem Film and Television Fund and The Jerusalem Municipality. A total of eight Israeli projects out of 100 submissions have been selected for the Lab. All 8 projects are headed by first-time lead writers, and six are female led. Amongst the writers are Orit Fouks Rotem, director of “Cinema Sabaya”, Israel’s entry for best international feature at the Academy Awards; Guy Raz, DOP of the successful feature “Rabies” and the Israeli series broadcast on HBO MAX “On the Spectrum”; and actress Nur Fibak (“Ahed's Knee”).

Awards The Jerusalem Film Festival Industry Days awards prizes at a gala event in partnership with The Jerusalem Sam Spiegel International Film Lab 11th Edition Prizes totaling $120,000 were awarded to promising new talents from around the world The Industry Days 16thannual Pitch Point took place during the 40th year celebrations for the Jerusalem Film Festival. Prizes were awarded to five outstanding Israeli projects. As part of its partnership with the Sam Spiegel International Film Lab, the award ceremony took place this year for the first time on the roof of the new Sam Spiegel building in central Jerusalem. The prizes awarded are: The 55,000NIS Jerusalem Foundation Award was granted to Wild Animals Director Yona Rozenkier, Producers Kobi Mizrahi and Dominique Welinski The Diamond Award – in the amount of 10,000NIS, was presented to the team of the award-winning Land of Limpopo , director and producer: Gur Bentwich, director of animation: Shafaf Ram. The 25,000 NIS EDIT Post Production Services Grant was awarded to Tropicana Director Omer Tobi; Producers: Hilla Medalia and Gil Sima. DB Post Production Services Grant in the amount of 30,000NIS was given to Issa’s House director and producer Tomer Heyman; producers Issa Amro, Tomer Heymann, Izzat Karaki, Lukasz Konopa, Leigh Heiman. The Jerusalem Pitch Point is a competitive industry platform aiming to encourage and promote international collaborations and co-productions with Israeli feature-length films either in the development & packaging stage, or in their post-production stage. This year’s jury included Olivier Père, director ARTE Cinema, France; Thorsten Ritter, Beta Cinema; Kevin Chan, MUBI; Claudia Solano the Match Factory; Yael Fogiel,Les Films du Poisson and Helge Albers from the Hamburg Film Fund. Celebrating its first decade last year, the 11th edition of the Sam Spiegel International Film Lab awarded prizes to The Sam Spiegel International Film Lab $50,000 Grand Prize, donated by the Beracha Foundation was awarded to Children of the Monkey , directors Tommaso Landucci and Damiano Femfert, producer Andrea Calbucci, Italy. The jury headed by Kirsten Niehuus, CEO of Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, stated “this is a modern depiction of fatherhood and the male perspective on caretaking. and the complexities of examining the limits of love and generosity.” The Sam Spiegel International Film Lab Emerging Filmmaker Award in the amount of $20,000 was granted to Checkpoints by Rita Borodiyanski; Producer: Osnat Saraga, Israel. The jury statement read: “this is an energetic story of female empowerment and liberation. It tells a story of a woman who comes from a challenging background. making the best of her situation in a politicized reality that does not give her many options”. The Factory 54 Artistic Vision Award this year was given to Exile , director Oz Zirlin, producer Dor Levy, Israel. Ifat Irani, Owner and co-CEO Irani Corp and Israeli producer Osnat Handelsman Keren were joined by jury head Kirsten Niehuus and stated: “this is a project that depicts a dark reality he knows intimately, and spotlights lives often overlooked. The jury was impressed by his artistic vision that has the ability to open up this subject with great sensitivity and humanity”. The Jerusalem Sam Spiegel International Film Lab, is one of the foremost programs for the development of groundbreaking feature films by some of the world’s most promising talents. Over the past decade, JSFL projects have received the most prestigious accolades- from Lazlo Nemes's Academy Award winning Son of Saul , to the Camera d’Or for Murina by Antoneta Kusijanović. The Lab is supported by the Beracha Foundation; the Rothschild Foundation; the Jerusalem Foundation; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Jerusalem Development Authority; the Jerusalem Film and Television Fund; the Israel Film Fund; The Israel Film Council; The Embassy of Hungary in Israel; the Jerusalem Municipality; Carol Polakoff; and the Sam Spiegel Estate.

News Graduation! 30th Year We celebrated with the class of 2023 at our 30th graduation event where the honorary fellowship was given to Ruth Cheshin. Ruth is a true builder of Jerusalem and among her many worthy projects is the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School which she helped establish in 1989. Congratulations to all of our new graduates!!

Prizes Prizes at the Jerusalem Women's Film Festival Proud to congratulate our alumna on their prizes at the 2023 Jerusalem Women's Film Festival! Tal Comay won the script development prize for her JSFS graduation film; and May Rash won the special mention prize for her graduation film as well as the Gesher Fund development grant for her upcoming film.

News School alumni and students in the Jerusalem Film Festival 2021 Fifth year student Tal Comay is competing with her short Shabbat, in addition to alumna Ahinoam Capon with her debut short He Can Sleep on the Couch . Other alumni presenting at the festival include Tom Shoval with his feature Shake Your Cares Away staring Berenice Bejo, and Orit Fouks Rotem with Cinema Sebaya .

Prize Special Mention Prize for "Digital Diary" "Digital Diary" by Yasmine Scheft won the Special Mention prize at the Early Bird Student Film Festival in Bulgaria. The jury statement read: With a simple and great idea, we are able to see what is going on in a young man’s head. As a teenager, he goes through a lot of things, hesitating between following his friends, and doing what sounds good to him. The spectator is entering the intimity of this young woman through the eyes of the teenager, and feels as an intruder, hoping that he will make the right choices. A beautiful piece of life.

News "Stagnant Water" by Coraline Zorea at InterFilm Berlin "Stagnant Water" is making its German premiere at InterFilm. Cinematographer Tal Ninyo will be attend in person representing the film.

News The prestigious IRIS Prize 2021 features "Johnita" by alum Alon Reter Alum Alon Reter's documentary will be features in the prestigious LGBT IRIS Awards this coming October.

News Israeli Academy Award Nominations Excited to announce our many alumni who are nominated this year for the Ophir Prize - including Dani Rosenberg for his new feature "The Thin Soldier"; Matan Yair for "A Room of His Own"; Moran Ifergan for "Ronit Elkabetz Je t'aime" and "Foriegn Movie" by Boaz Frankel. Many other alumni are nominated in various categories and we are proud as our school continues to pave the way for the Israeli industry.

News "Ordinary" won first place at the Tbilisi International Student Film Festival Congratulations to Gil Fermon for winning at the Tbilisi International Student Film Festival! "Ordinary" his is graduation film. A strong start for a strong film!