 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Ophir Award" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Ophir Award | |
|---|---|
| פרס אופיר | |
 Tzachi Halevy andYuval Scharf (right) hosting the 2019 Ophir Awards | |
| Awarded for | Best infilm |
| Country | Israel |
| Presented by | Israeli Academy of Film and Television |
| First award | 1990; 35 years ago (1990) |
| Website | www |
TheOphir Awards (Hebrew:פרס אופיר), full name: the Israel Film Academy Award, sometimes also known as theIsraeli Oscars or theIsraeli Academy Awards, arefilm awards for excellence in the Israeli film industry awarded by theIsraeli Academy of Film and Television. The award, named after Israeli actorShaike Ophir, has been granted since 1990.
The Academy Awards ceremony takes place every year in September, about four months before the announcement of the nominees for the American Academy Award. The winner of the "Best Film" award is sent as Israel's representative to compete for an Oscar nomination in the "Best Foreign Film Oscar Award" category. Out of the winners of the Ophir Award in the "Best Film" category over the years, 10 films have been chosen to be nominated for the Oscar Award in the "Best Foreign Film" category.
The predecessors of the award were theIsraeli Film Center Award (פרסי מרכז הסרט הישראלי) and theSilver Menorah Award (פרסי מנורת הכסף).The first Israeli Academy Awards ceremony was held since the establishment of the academy in 1990 It was held annually at theTel Aviv Performing Arts Center. In 2004 it was renamed the Ophir Awards afterShaike Ophir.[1] The award holds annual competitions in the field of feature and documentary cinema among the films produced that year. The Ophir Awards are awarded in 18 categories in the field of Israeli cinematic creation.
Since 2003, the Academy has held a separate ceremony for television programs. Before the establishment of the Academy, the "Kinor David" was awarded in the years 1963 - 1986 to creators in various fields of Israeli culture. The award was given both in the field of cinema and in the field of communication (where awards were given for television programs). Starting in 2003, these awards are given separately as part of the "Awards of the Israel Television Academy".
The year 2004 is known as the record year for viewing percentages of Israeli films and the record year for the Ophir Awards ceremony: 23 feature films competed, including the blockbusters "Turn Left at the End of the World", "Campfire" and "Walk on Water".
As of 2022, The highest number of Ophir Awards won by a single film is 11, for the film "Nina's Tragedies", which in 2003 won 11 awards out of a possible 13 (not including the "Best Documentary" award and "Lifetime Achievement Award"), including the best film, but lost the best actor award toAryeh Elias and the best composer award toEhud Banai (both from the film "James' Journey to Jerusalem"). The record for winnings per person belongs toAssi Dayan and Gil Toran, who won 8 Ophir awards each. Assi Dayan is also the only one who won awards for directing, writing and acting.
The award is televised every year. In the beginning it was broadcast onChannel 2 as part ofKeshet Medial Group broadcasts, and then the broadcast moved to Channel 10. In 2016 the ceremony was broadcast live onChannel 24 and then returned a secondChannel 12.
The winner of the Best Film award usually becomes Israel's submission for theAcademy Award for Best International Feature Film,[2] although exceptions includeAviva My Love (which was rejected in favor of the film it tied with,Sweet Mud) andThe Band's Visit, which was disqualified for having more than 50% of its dialogue in English. Israel submitted the runner-up for that year—Beaufort—instead. The latter film was eventually nominated for theAcademy Award for Best International Feature Film.
The statuette awarded to prize winners was designed by the Israeli sculptor Richard Shiloh, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2011.[3]
The categories in which the award is distributed:
In addition, almost every year awards are given for lifetime achievement and a recognition award for professional achievements.
This is a list of Ophir Award ceremonies.
| Ceremony | Date | Time | Best Picture Winner | Length of Ceremony | Number of Viewers | Rating | Host(s) | Venue | Broadcast Partner(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 1984 | — | Beyond the Walls | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | 1985 | — | When Night Falls | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | 1986 | — | Avanti Popolo | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | 1987 | — | I Don't Give a Damn | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | 1988 | — | Aviya's Summer | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | 1989 | — | One of Us | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1st Ophir Awards [he] | 1990 | — | The Lookout | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2nd Ophir Awards | 1991 | — | Beyond the Sea | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3rd Ophir Awards | 1992 | — | Life According to Agfa | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4th Ophir Awards | 1993 | — | Revenge of Itzik Finkelstein | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5th Ophir Awards | 1994 | — | Sh'Chur | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6th Ophir Awards | 1995 | — | Lovesick on Nana Street | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 7th Ophir Awards | 1996 | — | Saint Clara | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 8th Ophir Awards | 1997 | — | Pick a Card | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 9th Ophir Awards | 1998 | — | Circus Palestine | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 10th Ophir Awards | 1999 | — | Yana's Friends | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 11th Ophir Awards | 2000 | — | Time of Favor | — | — | — | Aki Avni | — | — |
| 12th Ophir Awards | 2001 | — | Late Marriage | — | — | — | Yael Abecassis | — | — |
| 13th Ophir Awards | 2002 | — | Broken Wings | — | — | — | Avi Kushnir | — | — |
| 14th Ophir Awards | September 24, 2003 | — | Nina's Tragedies | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Since 2003 the ceremony split into two ceremonies: a separate ceremony for television and a separate ceremony for films. | |||||||||
Since 2004, the award name changed from "Israeli Oscar" to "Ophir Award," named after actor Shaike Ophir.[8] | |||||||||
| 15th Ophir Awards | September 27, 2004 | 8:45 p.m. | Campfire | — | — | — | Avi Kushnir | Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center | Channel 2 |
| 16th Ophir Awards | September 20, 2005 | — | What a Wonderful Place | — | — | — | Moni Moshonov | HOT3 | |
| 17th Ophir Awards | September 14, 2006 | 8:00 p.m. | Aviva, My Love andSweet Mud (tie) | 2 hours, 38 minutes | — | — | Shlomo Bar-Aba,Moni Moshonov | — | |
| 18th Ophir Awards | September 20, 2007 | The Band's Visit | 1 hour, 41 minutes | — | — | Tal Friedman,Moni Moshonov | Channel 2 (Not Live) | ||
| 19th Ophir Awards | September 23, 2008 | — | Waltz with Bashir | — | — | — | Shai Goldstein,Dror Refael | Channel 10 | |
| 20th Ophir Awards | September 26, 2009 | — | Ajami | — | — | — | Avi Kushnir,Moni Moshonov | Haifa Auditorium | Channel 2 |
| 21st Ophir Awards [he] | September 21, 2010 | 9:30 p.m. | The Human Resources Manager | — | — | — | Aki Avni | Jerusalem Theatre | Channel 1 |
| 22nd Ophir Awards [he] | September 22, 2011 | 8:45 p.m. | Footnote | 2 hour, 12 minutes | — | — | Moni Moshonov | Krieger Center for Performing Arts | Channel 2 90 minutes were broadcast live. |
| 23rd Ophir Awards [he] | September 21, 2012 | 1:00 p.m. | Fill the Void | — | — | — | Shlomo Bar-Aba | Channel 2 Air an edited version in 10:00 p.m. | |
| 24th Ophir Awards [he] | September 28, 2013 | 9:00 p.m. | Bethlehem | — | — | — | Yaron Brovinsky | Haifa Theatre | Channel 10 |
| 25th Ophir Awards [he] | September 21, 2014 | Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem | — | — | — | Moni Moshonov | Ashdod Performing Arts Center | ||
| 26th Ophir Awards [he] | September 21, 2015 | Baba Joon | — | — | — | Tal Friedman | |||
| 27th Ophir Awards [he] | September 22, 2016 | Sand Storm | — | — | — | Guri Alfi | Channel 24 | ||
| 28th Ophir Awards [he] | September 19, 2017 | — | Foxtrot | — | — | — | Ilan Peled | Channel 10 | |
| 29th Ophir Awards [he] | September 6, 2018 | — | The Cakemaker | — | — | — | Ilan Peled | Channel 13 | |
| 30th Ophir Awards [he] | September 22, 2019 | — | Incitement | — | — | — | Tzachi Halevy,Yuval Scharf | — | Kan 11 |
| 31st Ophir Awards [he] | November 13, 2020 | — | Asia | — | — | — | Kobi Meaden | — | |
| 32nd Ophir Awards [he] | October 5, 2021 | 9:15 p.m. | Let There Be Morning | — | — | — | Alma Zack,Shai Avivi | — | |
| 33rd Ophir Awards[9] | September 18, 2022 | 11:00 p.m. | Cinema Sabaya | — | — | — | — | ||
| 34th Ophir Awards [he] | September 10, 2023 | — | Seven Blessings | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 35th Ophir Awards[10] | September 16, 2024 | Come Closer | |||||||
| 36th Ophir Awards | September 16, 2025 | The Sea | Shira Naor, Tom Yaar | — | |||||
Record nominations for a film (general): 15 - "The World is Funny" (2012) [8], "Image of Victory" (2021), "Let it be Morning" (2021)
Record of wins for a film (overall): 11 – "Nina's Tragedies" (2003)
Record of wins per person (general): 10 - Israel David (all in the soundtrack category)
Record of wins for thesoundtrack: 10 - Israel David
Record of wins for editing: 7 - Einat Glazer-Zarhin
Record of winnings for photography: 4 -David Gurfinkel
Record of wins for an actress: 3 -Ronit Elkebetz (3 main actress), 3 -Dana Ivgy (2 main actress; 1 supporting actress), 3 -Anat Waxman (1 main actress; 2 supporting actress), 3 -Raymond Amsalem (1 main actress, 2 supporting actress)
Record wins for a player: 4 -Sasson Gabai (2 main player; 2 secondary player)
Record of winnings for ascreenplay: 4 -Savi Gabizon ("The Lookout", "Lovesick on Nana Street", "Nina's Tragedies" and "Longing")
Record of wins for directing: 3 -Savi Gabizon ("The Lookout", "Lovesick on Nana Street" and "The Lookout")
Record of wins for thedocumentary film: 2 -Arnon Goldfinger, Nadav Shirman,Shlomi Elder
The following have hosted (or co-hosted) the Academy Awards ceremony on two or more occasions.
| Host | Number of Ceremonies |
|---|---|
| Moni Moshonov | 5 |
| Avi Kushnir | 2 |
| Shlomo Bar-Aba | 2 |
| Tal Friedman | 2 |
| Ilan Peled | 2 |
