Incitement, is Israel’s selection for Best International Film Oscar.
In September 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin announces the Oslo Accords, which aim to achieve a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians after decades of violence. Yigal Amir, a law student and a devoted Orthodox Jew, cannot believe that his country’s leader will cede territory that he and many others believe is rightfully — by the word of God — theirs.
As the prospect of a peaceful compromise approaches, Amir turns from a hot-headed political activist to a dangerous extremist. Consumed by anger and delusions of grandeur, he recruits fighters and steals weapons to form an underground militia intent on killing Palestinians. After his longtime girlfriend leaves him, Amir becomes even more isolated, disillusioned, and bitter.
He soon learns of an ancient Jewish law, the Law of the Pursuer, that he believes gives him the right to murder Yitzhak Rabin. Convinced he must stop the signing of the peace treaty in order to fulfil his destiny and bring salvation to his people, Amir’s warped mind sees only one way forward.
The following is the podcast of our interview with Yaron Zilberman – CO-writer, Director & Producer of Incitement:
Cast:
YEHUDA NAHARI HALEVI – as YIGAL AMIR
Yehuda Nahari Halevi stars and is nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role in the Israeli Ophir Awards for his performance in Incitement. Prior to Incitement, notable productions Halevi has worked on include Zaguri Empire, which became one of the most successful series to ever air on Israeli television and was later sold to Sony, and the film Wedding Doll which was nominated for Best Feature at the 2015 Ophir awards. Additional projects include; the popular musical sitcom Our Song on Yes Television, Dancing Arabs directed by Eran Riklis, Snails in the Rain directed by Yariv Mozer and the award-winning Israeli musical Billy Schwartz. Halevi was born and raised in Herzliya, Israel. For his mandatory army service he served in the elite special unit “Charuv”. Following his service he went on to study acting at Haderech Theatre School.
DANIELLA KERTESZ – as NAVA
Daniella Kertesz, who was born in Jerusalem, has been working as an actress since 2007. At an early age she was cast in the lead part in the acclaimed TV drama series Reds and has been acting in a variety of quality drama series in Israel since. In 2013, she started alongside Brad Pitt in Paramount pictures production World War Z. More feature film work includes Israeli French co-production Operation Sunflower and Robin Schmidt and Gez Medinger’s AfterDeath. Most recently, Daniella played the lead part in the miniseries Autonomies. The dramatic miniseries imagined a dystopian future for Israel, and made significant impact, leading to the series’ participation in the prestigious Series Mania festival in Lille. Danielle is a graduate of highly acclaimed L’école international du théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris as well as the William Esper Studio in New York.
SIVAN MAST – as MARGALIT
Sivan Mast was born in Haifa, Israel and is an actress in the National Theatre Habima. Sivan’s previous film and television roles include Full Moon, Galis, Bnei Aruba and After the Bell for Disney Israel. Past theatre roles include Animal Farm and He Does As He Pleases.
AMITAY YAISH BEN OUSILIO – as SHLOMO AMIR
Amitay Yaish Ben Ousilio is a graduate of the Academy of Performing Arts Beit Zvi and a lecturer at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. Amitay is an active theatre and film actor, appearing in various plays, movies and television shows in Israel. Previous films include Zohar directed by Eran Riklis and Princess by Tali Shalom Ezer which won many prizes in film festivals around the world. Previous series include Asylum, City, The Good Cop and Dead for a Moment.
ANAT RAVNITZKI – as GEULA AMIR
Anat Ravnizky’s first stage experience was at the age of 14 in her hometown’s representative band. During her military service she was as a member of the Central Command band and following this Anat studied acting at the Nissan Nativ acting Studio in Tel Aviv. Anat’s first lead role was ‘Grosha’ in the play Caucasian Chalk Circle at the Haifa Theatre. Anat has since moved behind the scenes directing stage plays for Yuoght and launching empowerment workshops for girls and women in theatre skills. In recent years Anat has been a puppeteer therapist and emotional and media facilitator for at-risk youth and women at the shelter for battered women through puppet theatre therapy. In Incitement, Anat returns to the screen after more than 20 years to play the role of Geula Amir, Yigal Amir’s mother.
Filmmaker:
Yaron Zilberman directed, co-wrote, and produced his internationally acclaimed debut feature film A Late Quartet starring Academy Award winners Philip Seymour Hoffman and Christopher Walken, Academy Award nominee Catherine Keener and Silver Bear Winner Mark Ivanir. The film tells the story of a world-renowned New York based string quartet as its members struggle to stay together on the eve of their 25th anniversary season. A Late Quartet debuted to a standing ovation at the Toronto International Film Festival (Special Presentations) and has since been theatrically released all over the world.
Yaron’s first film, the award-winning feature length documentary Watermarks was co-produced with HBO and ARTE, having both successful North American and international theatrical releases. The film tells the story of the champion women swimmers of the esteemed Jewish sports club Hakoah Vienna, as they reunite in their 80s to swim together one more time in the city they were forced to escape 65 years earlier.
Yaron graduated from M.I.T with a Bachelors and Masters in Science. Incitement is his third film, selected at TIFF 2019.
