The Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles is launching its 33rd year by hosting a Sponsor Luncheon honoring the legendary Roger Corman and Keshet Media Group’s Avi Nir. Festival Founder and Executive Director Meir Fenigstein announced the news May 17.
Nir, has been named the recipient of the 2019 IFF Visionary Award and Corman, the legendary film producer and director will receive the 2019 IFF Lifetime Achievement Award.
“We are so proud to honor two distinguished individuals, who made a difference in the world of film and television in the United States, in Israel and around the world. We also recognize our amazing sponsors who, thanks to their support, we can promote the best of Israeli cinema & culture in America,” Fenigstein said in a statement to the Journal.
Avi Nir, the CEO of Keshet Media Group and an Executive Producer (“Homeland,” “The A Word,” “Tyrant”), has built Israel’s dominant broadcaster into a major global TV, film and digital media force.
Keshet, known for its innovative approach to both business and content, including many critical and popular hits, has become an overachiever in the U.S. with Keshet Studios landing as the top non-major independent studio this pilot season following two series orders at NBC (“Lincoln”) and ABC (“The Baker and the Beauty”), as well as projects with HBO, Apple and Netflix.
Corman founded New World Pictures in the 1970s which became the first American distributors to bring foreign cinema to the US. In 2005, Corman received the David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures at the Producers Guild of America Awards and in 1998, he won the first Producer’s Award ever given by the Cannes Film Festival. In 2009, Corman received an Honorary Oscar.
The Sponsor Luncheon will take place on June 13 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills.
