Eyal Sher to head Israel Festival

Film-maker appointed as new CEO of Israel Festival, replacing Yossi Tal-Gan who served in position for 22 years.

By BARRY DAVIS, HELEN KAYE
A FILM-MAKER by profession, Eyal Sher has written, produced and directed both films and TV series. (photo credit: AMNON CHORESH)
A FILM-MAKER by profession, Eyal Sher has written, produced and directed both films and TV series.
(photo credit: AMNON CHORESH)
Eyal Sher has been appointed as the new CEO of the Israel Festival, replacing Yossi Tal-Gan who served in the position for 22 years.
The 57-year-old Sher brings a wide range of cultural and artistic experience to his new job, primarily in the fields of cinema and theater. He currently heads the Jerusalem Foundation’s Department of Culture and Art, and previously represented the foundation’s interests on the West Coast of America.
The new CEO has written and directed feature films, TV series and documentaries in the US, Europe and the Middle East, and also worked as director of development for Howard Rosenman Productions and as program coordinator for Lucasfilm’s Theater Alignment Program.
Sher has produced the International Jerusalem Film Festival, in his capacity as deputy CEO of the Jerusalem Cinematheque, as well as the Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles and New York, and various cultural events. His film credits include directing the Operation Thunderbolt: Entebbe TV movie in 2000, and producing The Dybbuk from the Holy Apple Field, and he was screenwriter for Under the Domim Tree, starring Gila Almagor, and produced Claude Lanzmann’s 1994 epic Tsahal.
There were some 200 submissions for the post in answer to the open tender and Sher was the unanimous choice from among the seven men and three women on the short list. His first task will be to appoint the artistic director for Israel Festival 2015.
IF director for 22 years, Tal-Gan resigned last October, saying that the time had come to hand over the reins, and that his enduring satisfaction “has been to discover new talent and give it a stage that it couldn’t get elsewhere.”