Press Releases

September 23, LOS ANGELES

Avi Lerner to receive Lifetime Achievement Award at Opening Night Gala for 25th Anniversary Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles, CA (September 23, 2010).  Avi Lerner, Co-Chairman and CEO of Nu Image/Millennium Films will be honored with the 2010 IFF Lifetime Achievement Award at the milestone 25th Anniversary Gala Awards Dinner of the Israel Film Festival taking place on Wednesday, October 20 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, it was announced today by Meir Fenigstein, Founder and Executive Director of the Israel Film Festival.

Lerner is one of the most experienced and prolific producers and distributors of independent films in the global motion picture industry.  He most recently produced the blockbuster hit “The Expendables” directed, written and starring Sylvester Stallone.

Lerner and his Nu Image partners, Danny Dimbort and Trevor Short, own and operate a full service production facility in Sofia, Bulgaria, are building a $12 million studio in Shreveport, Louisiana, and are headquartered in Los Angeles, California.  Born and raised in Israel, Lerner’s career in the film business began managing Israel’s first drive-in cinemas.  He acquired a chain of movie theaters while simultaneously producing several low-budget features.  He anticipated the explosion of home video rental in l979 and pioneered the largest specialized video distribution company in Israel, becoming a partner in the largest theatrical distribution company in the country.

In 1984, Lerner executive produced the remake of King Solomon’s Mines and the sequel Alan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold.  He later sold his Israeli company and relocated to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he founded the Nu Metro Entertainment Group.  He went on to own and operate theaters, a video distribution division representing top studios and independent companies, and a production arm that made over 60 features in Zimbabwe and South Africa which were distributed worldwide by major studios.  Lerner’s next professional moves were to sell Nu Metro and to join MGM United Artists while still producing movies.  A year later he moved to Los Angeles where he founded Nu Image with Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short and Danny Lerner.  A string of successful films followed as Nu Image developed and maintained an enviable reputation as a producer and distributor of high quality, action pictures for the international and domestic markets.

In 1992 Nu Image formed Millennium Films to address the market’s growing need for quality theatrical films and higher budget action features, while Nu Image continued to cater to the lucrative international home-video market.  Between the two divisions, over 300 films have been produced since 1992.

Under the Millennium Films label, Lerner and his partners have produced numerous titles, including the blockbuster hit The Expendables directed, written and staring Sylvester Stallone; Lonely Hearts starring John Travolta; Black Dahlia with Hilary Swank; 16 Blocks starring Bruce Willis; 88 Minutes starring Al Pacino; The Contract with Morgan Freeman; Rambo IV directed by and starring Stallone; The Wicker Man starring Nicolas Cage and directed by Neil Labute; and Righteous Kill starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.  Upcoming releases include Drive Angry 3D with Nicolas Cage; Trust starring Clive Owen and Catherine Keener; Trespass with Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman; Stone with Robert De Niro and Edward Norton; The Mechanic starring Jason Statham and Ben Foster; and Conan starring newcomer Jason Momoa.  Nu Image/Millennium Films currently develop, finance, produce and distribute approximately 10 to 15 pictures a year with budgets ranging from three to eighty million dollars, shooting in locations around the world.

“Avi Lerner’s great talents as a producer and distributor of independent films on a worldwide scale make him the perfect recipient for the IFF Lifetime Achievement in Film Award,” said Festival Founder and Executive Director, Meir Fenigstein.  “His support of his native Israel and of the Jewish community has remained constant throughout his successful career,” added Fenigstein.

The Israel Film Festival will present over 30 films and run in Los Angeles from October 20 – November 4.  “The Matchmaker” which was written and directed by Avi Nesher makes its West Coast premiere as the festival’s opening night film and will be screened on October 21.  “The Matchmaker” (original title “Once I Was”) just picked up two Ophir Awards from the Israeli Film and Television Academy for “Best Leading Actor” and “Best Actress” performances by Adir Miller and Maya Dagan, respectively.

“The Matchmaker,” which takes place in 1968, is about an Israeli born teenage boy who gets a summer job with a holocaust survivor who makes ends meet by brokering marriages and smuggling goods.  The matchmaker’s office is located in the back of a rundown movie theater, run by seven Romanian dwarfs who were saved from the gas chambers by the infamous Doctor Mengele.  Throughout the summer, the mysterious matchmaker takes the boy on a dangerous coming of age ride into the deepest and darkest urban underbelly of the Six Day War in Haifa, where love assumes surprising shapes and forms and history is transformed into mythology.

“We are excited to have the West Coast premiere of Avi Nesher’s superb film ‘The Matchmaker,’” said Fenigstein.  “The film is a moving portrait which showcases Nesher’s outstanding filmmaking talents,” continued Fenigstein.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary with events in Los Angeles, New York and Miami, the Israel Film Festival is the largest showcase of Israeli films in the United States.  In the last two and a half decades, the Festival has presented more than 800 Feature films, documentaries, television dramas and short films to over 900,000 Filmgoers and brought hundreds of Israeli filmmakers to the U.S. to share their art.  The festival presents over 30 films in various venues with multiple screenings taking place at the Laemmle Sunset 5 in West Hollywood, the Royal in West Los Angeles, and the Laemmle Fallbrook 7 in West Hills.  A complete list of films to be presented at this year’s festival will be announced shortly.

ABOUT THE ISRAEL FILM FESTIVAL
The Israel Film Festival is produced by IsraFest Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization created in 1982.  The 25th Anniversary festival is presented in association with the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles and sponsored in part by Dr. Miriam & Sheldon G. Adelson, Bank Leumi USA, Clear Channel Outdoor, Israel Film Fund, Los Angeles Times, Nu Image/Millennium Films, Rabinovich Foundation-Cinema Project, Cheryl and Haim Saban, LeRoy & Shoshana Schecter Foundation, and Twentieth Century Fox, amongst others.

The Festival’s mission is to showcase the finest new Israeli films in order to share with American audiences the country’s rich culture, diverse stories and modern Israeli life.  The 25th Festival Chairman is Arnon Milchan and the Honorary Committee includes Avi Arad, Mark Canton, Gil Cates, Michael Douglas, Meyer Gottlieb, Penny Marshall, Mike Medavoy, Bette Midler, Rob Reiner, Terry Semel, Nina Tassler, and many others.  Proceeds from the Gala Awards Dinner will provide funds to support the IsraFest Foundation and scholarship funds at the top six film schools in Israel.

Tickets will be available beginning in October.  For additional information, visit www.IsraelFilmFestival.com or call IsraFest toll-free at 1-877-966-5566.