Press Releases
September 29, LOS ANGELES
Richard Dreyfuss and Jon Landau to be honored at Opening Night Gala for 25th Anniversary of the Israel Film Festival
Los Angeles, CA (September 29, 2010). Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss will be honored with the 2010 IFF Career Achievement Award and Oscar-winning producer Jon Landau will be receiving the Visionary 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.
Richard Dreyfuss has been a feature-film, TV and theatre actor since he began performing as a young boy at the Beverly Hills Jewish Center. His films include Jaws, The Goodbye Girl, Tin Men, Once Around, Mr. Holland’s Opus, among many others. He produced and co-wrote for The History Channel shows about Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, a program on why we build monuments, and worked on projects for HBO such as the film Prisoner of Honor. Dreyfuss was the executive producer of the award-winning ABC special honoring the bicentennial of the Constitution, Funny, You Don’t Look 200: A Constitutional Vaudeville.
He is the founder of L.A. Works, a community-based volunteer program that has become a template for over 15 cities in the U.S. For two years he funded a newsletter in Jerusalem aimed at academics and authors of the Israeli intelligence community that simply included the opinion and commentaries of the left and right, “so no one could say they didn’t know what the other was thinking.” As the first Intifada was slowly ending, Dreyfuss co-created, with The Columbia School of Journalism, a three-day conference in NY that brought Arabic, Palestinian and Israeli journalists together for the first time. He created, then partnered with, CSIS of Washington, D.C., in bringing the media networks of CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera together to explore the question, “Which Gods do you worship?” The participants were spontaneously surprised when they became journalists bonding under fire.
In 1988, Dreyfuss created a proposal for a “docufiction” with Francis Fukuyama, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Sam Lewis, Nightline producer Jay LaMonica and approximately 15 political theorists, columnists, foreign policy experts from the U.S., Europe and the Middle East called Imagining the Peace: The Middle East Conference of 1992. When Dreyfuss and LaMonica returned from Israel, Ted Koppel refused to broadcast it, dismissing it as fantasy. On the lawn of The White House in 1993, as Prime Minister Rabin was signing a treaty with Arafat, Dreyfuss said to Mr. Koppel, “We were off by one year.” The Chief of IDF said, “We have never gamed the peace, we have only gamed war. Now we will game the peace.”
Most recently, Dreyfuss is the founder of The Dreyfuss Initiative (TheDreyfussInitiative.org). The non-profit organization achieves to revive an enhanced study of the pre-partisan tools of civic expertise necessary to comprehend and maintain this republican democracy as the starting point toward our weaving values through all sectors of the culture, establishing the ethic foundation upon which we stand.
Academy Award® and two-time Golden Globe® winning producer Jon Landau has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to oversee and deliver major motion pictures. He currently holds the distinction of having produced the two highest grossing movies of all-time, AVATAR and TITANIC. The combination of Landau’s thorough understanding of the most complex state-of-the-art visual effects technologies, his ability to work hand-in-hand with the highest caliber of creative talent, and his motivational ability with people has enabled him to play a significant role in numerous major motion pictures.
Throughout his career, Landau has also been very instrumental in the licensing and marketing of his films across all platforms globally. He has taken a hands on approach to bringing innovation, diversity and showmanship to these areas of the process.
Landau is the 2010 recipient of University of Southern California’s Mary Pickford Award recognizing alumni contributions to the cinematic arts. With the award Landau joins a list of distinguished USC alumni including Robert Zemeckis, Ray Harryhausen and Brian Grazer.
In addition to AVATAR and TITANIC, Landau has also produced such films as Steven Soderbergh’s SOLARIS, also under his and Cameron’s “Lightstorm Entertainment” banner, he co-produced Warren Beatty’s DICK TRACY and the family comedy hit HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS. Throughout the early ‘90’s, Landau was Executive Vice President of Feature Film Production at Twentieth Century Fox where he supervised production on all major motion pictures from Fox—including the action packed DIE HARD 2, MRS. DOUBTFIRE, TRUE LIES, POWER RANGERS, ALIENS 3, LAST OF THE MOHICANS and more.
Never one to rest on his laurels, Landau is pro-actively working with companies and individuals throughout the entertainment industry to push technologies to new levels that will allow new stories to be told and then presented in more engaging and immersive ways.
“We are delighted to recognize the incredible talents of Richard Dreyfuss and Jon Landau at our 25th anniversary gala. They have both achieved phenomenal success throughout their careers,” said Meir Fenigstein, Founder and Executive Director of the Israel Film Festival. “Their continued support of the Jewish community and Israel also commands the highest respect,” added Fenigstein.
The Israel Film Festival will present over 30 films and run in Los Angeles from October 20 – November 4 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.
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.
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; the Dinner Co-Chairs are Danny Dimbort and Cheryl and Haim Saban. The Honorary Committee includes Avi Arad, Mark Canton, Gil Cates, Michael Douglas, Meyer Gottlieb, Penny Marshall, David Matalon, 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.
For dinner tickets & sponsorship opportunities, call Levy, Pazanti & Associates at 310-201-5033.
Festival tickets will be available beginning in October. For additional information, visit www.IsraelFilmFestival.com or call IsraFest toll-free at 1-877-966-5566.
