New fund to make Jerusalem movies

The aim of the Jerusalem Fund is to change the image of Jerusalem by funding movies set in the city, both for the local and international markets.

By HANNAH BROWN
The Jerusalem Fund for Film and Television was established by the Jerusalem Foundation and the Jerusalem Development Authority this week. The aim of the fund is to change the image of Jerusalem by funding movies set in the city, both for the local and international markets. The fund will be run by Renen Schorr, a movie director who heads the Sam Spiegel School for Film and Television in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Fund will help finance feature films that are set at least 50 percent in Jerusalem, and it will specialize in the development of full-length features, but will also work with television productions. The budget for the first year is NIS 7 million. Says Schorr: "Since 2000, the establishment of the Cinema Law has resulted in the production of 20 to 25 full-length feature films a year, but on average, only one is set in Jerusalem. Israeli film is Tel Aviv-centered, and there are economic reasons for that - not only cultural ones." Most filmmaking professionals are based in the Tel Aviv area, he notes, but he thinks that with help from this new fund, more films will be made in Israel every year, among them six or seven set in Jerusalem. "Jerusalem is a city with a very active cultural branch, as well as 40,000 students," he points out. The fund will be inaugurated at an event during the Jerusalem Film Festival, on July 14 at Mishkenot Sha'ananim, which will be attended by directors, actors and graduates of Sam Spiegel.