Renen Schorr to step down as head of Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film School

“Ahead of the new school year, and along with the devoted teachers and School staff, the board will recruit a new director to lead onward towards a new journey.”

By HANNAH BROWN
Renen Schorr (photo credit: EINAV GAYOT GUTMAN)
Renen Schorr
(photo credit: EINAV GAYOT GUTMAN)
The Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film School has announced that Renen Schorr, the school’s founding director, will be stepping down after 31 years. In the coming months, Schorr will continue his work, including overseeing the Jerusalem International Film Lab in July.
Renen Schorr said he does not plan to helm another film institution in Israel or abroad. “I have done my best as an Israeli film activist and educator. The finest years of my life were well-spent at the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film School,” he said.
This year, the school is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a series of tributes and homages in Israel and around the world. Following recent tributes at the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival there will be retrospectives and celebrations at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival and DocAviv in May, the Cinema of the South Festival (Kolnoa Darom) and TLV Fest in June, the Haifa International Film Festival in October and Films of the Desert in November.
In July, the Yes cable network will begin a two-year program to broadcast hundreds of the school’s films.
Asaf Vitman, the chairman of the board, said, “The board wishes to thank Renen Schorr, the revolutionary elder statesman of modern Israeli cinema, for his 30 years of bold, creative and tenacious leadership for the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film School and Israeli cinema, steering them to the pinnacle of international film and television scene.”
“Renen leaves behind a school that is independent, fiscally balanced with plans to relocate to a new and modern campus in the center of Jerusalem which is coming to fruition right before our celebrating eyes; an organizational DNA that is unique; and which holds an impressive library of Israeli and world shorts classics.”
“Ahead of the new school year, and along with the devoted teachers and School staff, the board will recruit a new director to lead onward towards a new journey.”
Films by students and graduates of the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film School and the Jerusalem International Film Lab – which is run by the school – have won thousands of awards around the world, including an Oscar and prizes at virtually every international film festival, including Cannes, Berlin, Toronto and Venice.