News

The Stockholm International Film Festival has issued a fulsome apology to Israeli TV creator and actress Aleeza Chanovitz after she apparently felt her invite to attend and host a screening of her Chansi TV series had been pulled over the Israel-Hamas war.

“From the bottom of our hearts, we at the Stockholm International Film Festival are deeply sorry and take responsibility for the misunderstanding that was communicated to Aleeza Chanowitz and the team behind Chanshi,” the festival said on Monday.

Chanowitz had been due to fly to Sweden for a Nov. 16 screening of Chansi, which co-stars Henry Winkler. The Israeli series, which bowed at Sundance, portrays an Orthodox Jewish woman who moves from Brooklyn to Israel to claim her agency outside her conservative religious community.

The series from production company Kastina Communications is set mainly in Israel. Chanovitz was not available for comment, but her criticism of the Stockholm festival...

The Grierson Trust is “urgently investigating” reports of an antisemitic incident during last week’s documentary awards ceremony in London.

“We are appalled to have received several reports of anti-Jewish racism by an individual at the reception after the Grierson Awards last Thursday night,” said the Trust, which organizes the annual British Documentary Awards.

“We are urgently investigating these reports to decide as soon as possible on a course of action.

“The Grierson Trust wants to make it clear to our Jewish colleagues in the media and the creative arts that we stand with them to condemn antisemitism and, of course to stamp it out in our industry and beyond. We are very concerned with the rise in divisive and hateful behaviours of all kinds. We are deeply committed to an inclusive, diverse industry and environment for everyone and we will not tolerate any form of racism.”

One individual is...

Sweden’s Stockholm International Film Festival has denied reports that it disinvited U.S.-Israeli filmmaker and actress Aleeza Chanowitz as an in-person guest at its ongoing edition, running from November 8 to 19.

Chanowitz was officially invited to the festival earlier this fall with her TV show Chanshi, which screens as a special presentation on Thursday (November 16).

She and the show’s broadcaster Hot released statements over the weekend saying the invite appeared to have been rescinded in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, following an exchange of emails in which the hospitality department cited a number of reasons why it was better if she did not come.

The screening was always set to go ahead and Chanowitz and Hot did not suggest it had been cancelled in any of their communications but rumors started flying that the festival had also dropped the show from its program.

“There has been a...

U.S-Israeli director and actress Aleeza Chanowitz has abandoned plans to attend the Stockholm Film Festival with her TV show Chanshi following a series of email exchanges in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict in which the event attempted to rescind an invite it made earlier this fall.

Recounting the episode to Deadline, a visibly hurt Chanowitz said she had been planning to travel to Stockholm for the Chanshi screening this Thursday (November 16) and that in the days immediately after the Hamas terror attacks of October 7 the invite still appeared to be open.

Chanowitz stars as a young Jewish Orthodox woman from Brooklyn who escapes an impending arranged marriage and moves to Israel in search of sexual adventure only to discover that her vision of the country is wrong. Henry Winkler plays the protagonist’s father.

Produced by Tel Aviv-based Kastina Communications, the show first aired on Israeli network Hot...

Further new projects include In The Land Of Limpopo by Gur Bentwich and post-war drama Wild Animals by Yona Rozenkier.

The next film from award-winning Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid will be Yes! – one of five features in to receive fresh investment from the Israel Film Fund.

The director of Berlin Golden Bear winner Synonyms and Cannes jury prize winner Ahed’s Knee is in pre-production on the feature, and has received NIS2.2m from the Israel Film Fund.

Locally titled Ken!, Lapid’s fifth feature revolves around a character named Y. He decides that what takes real courage is not saying “no,...

Blame it on my Catholic upbringing, but guilt is my near-constant companion. At work, there’s guilt for not covering more television, which leads to guilt at home for spending too much time watching TV. Even when I can separate from these millions of screens, guilt often rises from having too much fun — or not enough. There’s lingering guilt over childhood misdeeds, and there’s growing guilt right now for spending this review’s lede talking about myself.

The point being: Guilt can come from anywhere. Right or wrong, useful or obstructive, immutable or fleeting, the feeling that you’re doing something wrong (and the ensuing anguish spent wondering just how bad it was) can lead people to do any number of things, and in this year’s otherwise disparate crop of Indie Episodic entries at the Sundance Film Festival, guilt is a driving narrative force — even in its absence.

Show creator and actress Aleeza Chanowitz says she writes what she knows — and what she knows is something TV has rarely offered when it comes to stories about Jewish women.

Premiering at Sundance on Tuesday as part of the Indie Episodic Program, her new series Chanshi is drawn from her own experiences as a 21-year-old woman born in Brooklyn who moves from her observant Jewish community to Jerusalem. After her titular character Chanshi decides her engagement to a nice man she barely knows — and her future as a “walking uterus” — isn’t what she wants, she sets off to Israel to actually get what she wants. And for right now, that thing is to own her sexuality.

Moved to Israel, Chanshi — having surprised her best friend, Noki, who is facing nuptials of her own — embeds herself in the world of Olim, a community of Jewish immigrants from the United States...

Screen Rant can exclusively present a clip from Chanshi, a raunchy new comedy series from creator Aleeza Chanowitz. Chanowitz, also stars in the show as the eponymous lead character, who leaves her religious Jewish community in Brooklyn and heads for Israel in an attempt to reclaim her freedom and her identity. The 10-episode comedy is having its premiere at Sundance Film Festival on January 24, as an official selection for the Indie Episodic section.

Chanshi boasts a large cast full of talented actors who are pushing the boundaries of Jewish representation in mainstream media. Henry Winkler is playing her Lubavitch father, Tatty, who is anxious to see his daughter safely returned and married off before she follows the path of his own dark past. Caroline Aaron (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Tomer Machloof (Tehran), Lee Bader (Super Lady), Roni Dalumi (Euphoria), and Dor Gvirtsmam also star in Chanshi—along with several other...

Willie Nelson in a scene from ‘Willie Nelson and Family’ (Photo Courtesy of Sundance Institute)

The 2023 Sundance Film Festival’s lineup will include 64 Short Films and four Indie Episodic projects. More than 10,000 short film submissions were received, and the 64 selected represent work from 23 countries. 519 Indie Episodic submissions were submitted and the four selected represent five countries.

The 2023 Festival will take place in person from January 19–29. Select films will be available online beginning January 24th.

“Short films and episodic projects are an integral aspect of the overall mission of the Sundance Institute — to empower artists who are taking risks, bringing new perspectives to the forefront, and creating work that entertains and provokes conversation,” stated Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming. “These platforms provide artists with the ability to expand beyond the boundaries of traditional cinema, while also motivating a unique creativity through an ever expanding format.”

Indie Episodic

Chanshi...

The 2023 Sundance Film Festival officially announced the Shorts and Indie Episodic programs.

Notable artists and talent in the shorts program include Paul Feig, Angela Sarafyan, Kate Flannery, Yalitza Aparicio Martinez, Angela Trimbur, Ken Marino, Bi Gan, and Shannon Plumb. Selections range from more than 23 countries, including Iran and Ukraine.

The Sundance Institute will offer in-person premieres for the Indie Episodic works, with Shorts screened in curated programs. Beginning January 24, all Indie Episodic projects and selected Shorts will also be available to stream online through the end of the festival. The 2023 festival will take place January 19 through 29, 2023, in person in Park City, Salt Lake City, and the Sundance Resort, along with a selection of films available online across the country January 24–29.

This upcoming year’s Short Film program includes work from 23 countries, and the Indie Episodic represents works from five countries. Forty-six percent of the filmmakers identify as women, and filmmakers...

The Sundance Film Festival on Tuesday revealed its 2023 lineup of episodic projects and 64 shorts, the latter culled from the fest’s highest number of submissions at 10,981.

The shorts span 23 countries, including projects from Iran (Azheh) and Ukraine (Liturgy of anti-tank obstacles), with works from such artists as Paul Feig (Help Me Understand producer), Westworld actress Angela Sarafyan (Power Signal), The Office‘s Kate Flannery (Help Me Understand), Roma‘s Yalitza Aparicio Martinez (Sweatshop Girl), The Feels’ Angela Trimbur (Mirror Party), Party Down‘s Ken Marino (Help Me Understand), Bi Gan (director of Cannes Certain Regard title A Long Days Journey Into Night director) and Shannon Plumb (Walk of Shame) to name a few.

Related Story Sundance Film Festival Lineup Set With Ukraine War, Little Richard, Michael J. Fox, Judy Blume Docs; Pics With Anne Hathaway, Emilia Clarke, Jonathan Majors; More Related Story 'The Amazing Maurice' Heads To France,...

Festival also unveils 64 shorts.

Sundance Film Festival organisers have unveiled four Indie Episodic series including the first authorised work exploring the life of American musician Willie Nelson and new work from Xavier Dolan, as well as 64 short films.

Thom Zimny and Oren Moverman directed Willie Nelson And Family for Blackbird Presents and Sight Unseen and the documentary series chronicles the ups and downs of Nelson’s life. The festival will premiere two of five episodes.

The Indie Episodics line-up includes The Night Logan Woke Up from Xavier Dolan, the French Canadian filmmaker behind features like Mommy and I Killed My Mother.

Five Israeli projects won Pitch Point awards at the ceremony.

Zetjune, the upcoming second feature from Luzzu director Alex Camilleri, has won the Sam Spiegel International Film Lab Grand Prize on Saturday (July 23), at a joint ceremony in which Jerusalem Industry Days announced its Pitch Point winners.

Featuring real artists from the Maltese folk scene, musical Zejtune follows a 30-year-old woman whose life is reinvigorated by an encounter with an elderly troubadour.

Scroll down for the full list of winners

The 50,000 award was given to Maltese-us filmmaker Camilleri and his producers Rebecca Anastasi from Malta and Ramin Bahrami from the US.

Venice Critics’ Week Unveils 2022 Selection

The 37th edition of Venice Critics’ Week has unveiled its 2022 line-up. Films in competition comprise Theo Montoya’s Anhell69 (Colombia), Philippe Petit’s Beating Sun (France), Isabella Carbonell’s Dogborn (Sweden) and David Wagner’s Eismayer (Austria), Dušan Zorić and Matija Gluscevic’s Have You Seen This Woman (Serbia), Niccolò Falsetti’s Margins (Italy) and Alex Schaad’s Skin Deep (Germany). Out of Competition, French director Florent Gouëlou’s Three Nights A Week is the opening film and French-Moroccan director Yasmine Benkiran’s Queens will close the section. There will also be a special screening of established Portuguese director Pedro Costa’s Blood. The parallel Venice section devoted mainly to first and second films runs from August 31 to September 10.

Sky Greenlights Ricky Hatton Documentary

Sky is to tell the story of champion British boxer Ricky Hatton in a doc from 14 Peaks producer Noah Media Group.

The upcoming Israeli/U.S. crossover comedy Chanshi has cast The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Caroline Aaron in a lead role opposite the previously announced Henry Winkler. According to Deadline, Aaron will play the titular character’s stepmother, Babshi, in the series, about a young Jewish girl from Brooklyn who decides, just before her wedding, to abandon everything and immigrate to Israel. Babshi’s husband Tatty is played by Winkler, and the titular Chanshi is portrayed by Aleeza Chanowitz, who created the series. In addition to Aaron, Winkler, and Chanowitz, the show also stars Marnina Schon (Dollface), Tomer Machloof (Tehran), Lee Bader (Super Lady), Oshri Cohen (McMafia), Daniel Moreshet (The Big Nothing), Michal Birnbaum (Unorthodox), Roy Miller (Superdaddy), Roni Dalumi (Euphoria), and Dor Gvirtsmam. Production is underway on the series, which is produced by Kastina Communications and directed by Mickey Triest and Aaron Eva (Bracha). It is set to air...

Exclusive: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Caroline Aaron has joined the cast of Israeli/U.S. Henry Winkler-starring crossover comedy Chanshi.

Aaron, who plays Shirley Maisel in Amazon’s 20-time Emmy Award-winning series, will feature as the titular character’s stepmother Babshi in Aleeza Chanowitz’s comedy for Israeli network Hot, which is currently being shopped to U.S. and international buyers.

Babshi’s husband is Tatty, played by Happy Days star Winkler, and the show is about a young religious girl from the Jewish community (played by Chanowitz) in Brooklyn who decides, just before her wedding and despite her family’s objections, to abandon everything familiar to her and immigrate to Israel.

Aaron has also appeared in Transparent and Curb Your Enthusiasm along with features including 21 Jump Street and Edward Scissorhands.

Filming is underway on Katina Communications’ Chanshi from Bracha directors Mickey Triest and Aaron Geva and...

Emmy-winning actor Henry Winkler is set to star in the new comedy series Chanshi, an Israeli/U.S. crossover currently in talks with U.S. and international broadcasters. According to Deadline, the series, created by actress/writer Aleeza Chanowitz, revolves around the titular Chanshi (Chanowitz), a young religious girl from the Jewish community in Brooklyn who decides to disobey her family and immigrate to Israel just before her wedding. The show follows Chanshi’s wild and reckless journey in the Holy Land as she transitions from a life of rules to a life of no rules at all. This unexpected culture change throws Chanshi into a whirlwind of new life experiences. Winkler will portray Tatty, Chanshi’s father, whose anxieties grow out of control as he demands that his daughter return home, get married, and save the family’s reputation. He will star alongside Marnina Schon (Dollface), Tomer Machloof (Tehran...

Hollywood veteran Henry Winkler is to lead Aleeza Chanowitz’s Israeli/U.S. crossover comedy Chanshi, with producers in talks with U.S. and international broadcasters.

Winkler will play Tatty, Chanshi’s (played by Chanowitz) father in the series for Israeli network Hot, which is being produced by Kastina Communications and directed by Bracha’s Mickey Triest and Aaron Geva.

Chanowitz’s Chanshi is a young religious girl from the Jewish community in Brooklyn who decides, just before her wedding and despite her family’s objections, to abandon everything familiar to her, and immigrate to Israel. In the Holy Land, Chanshi embarks on a wild and reckless journey, but the transition from a life with a clear set of rules to a life without any rules at all, is not at all what she was expecting and throws her into a whirlwind of life experiences.

Also starring in the series...

Veteran Hollywood actor Henry Winkler will star alongside Aleeza Chanowitz in “Chanshi,” a U.S.-Israel crossover comedy series for Israeli network Hot.

Chanowitz is also the series creator and writer of “Chanshi,” which is currently in production on location in and around Jerusalem.

Chanowitz plays Chanshi, a young religious girl from the Jewish community in Brooklyn who decides, just before her wedding and despite her family’s objections, to break off her engagement and immigrate to Israel. In the Holy Land Chanshi embarks on a wild and reckless journey, but the transition from a life with a clear set of rules to a life without any rules at all is not what she was expecting. Meanwhile, Chanshi’s father Tatty’s (Winkler) anxieties escalate and he demands that she return home, get married, and save her family’s reputation.

The cast also includes Marnina Schon (“Dollface”), Tomer Machloof (“Tehran...