It is already weakened in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attacks, the film and television industry in Israel, which was vibrant as producers and filmmakers, was stopped with an escalation of war with Iran.
Many of them, whose headquarters are in the center of Tel Aviv, have turned against their head upside down and their homes were damaged. Since the Islamic Republic of Iran began its revenge military action against Israel – following the latter’s attack on the Iranian nuclear program – on June 13, about 350 missiles were launched in Israel, killing at least 24 people, according to the country’s estimates, which are in the state of emergency until June 30.
“At the present time, no one is working, all industry is waiting. We are waiting for things to calm down,” says Ir Shafin, President of the Producers Association in Israel. He notes that the strike attack is “more frightening than all the other times” that were subjected to Israel “because the Iranian missiles are very large.” He adds, “Everyone remains at home and try to maintain its safety as much as possible.”
Like many of her peers, prominent Israeli bidder Natalie Marcos, who includes his work.VodaAnd “Tehran”, is currently protected in a hotel with her husband, Jay Raz, the movie “On The Spectrum”, and their two children. Others in the industry whose homes are affected are damaged Daniel Seifan and More Lawzi, and “the witnessed directors” and produced behind “The Devil Next -Phoip”, “CAMP Confidential: America’s Secret Nazis.
While some people in the industry have fallen abroad for more than a week as the main airport is closed, rescue flights slowly began to bring people home. Local population cannot currently leave Israel, although Marcus says that some people who have links within the government have been given special privileges.
Her house in northern Tel Aviv was affected by the shock waves of a missile that fell 20 meters from there, destroying windows, breaking the walls and destroying their car.
“We have been evacuated at a hotel and we have to go to the shelter on the basement two or three times a day,” says Marcos. Although she lived during the Gulf War in the 1990s, which was also destroyed, she was a child at the time and did not realize her scope. “It was a different feeling, because when you are a child, you revolve around the self.”
Marcus, whose work was on “Voda” and “Tehran” always carries political geographical issues, regretted that the Israeli government is “crazy”.
“There are a lot of good people talented here, but we have the most unemployed government, and it seems that it is as if we cannot trust them, and we cannot leave the country because the sky is closed,” she says. The Israelis have recognized, “We are afraid of Iran over the past decades, but most of us live our lives.”
Marcus, who indicates that she was attending almost all demonstrations to end the war in Gaza with her children, says that many of her left -wing cinema and television peers “count the days to the elections”, which are scheduled to cause these elections in October 2026. Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies and their military actions “may take ages.”
“It is surprising that you are an Israeli artist today,” she says. People say that Iran has a crazy extremist system, but such a fact does not prevent filmmakers from celebrating by the international community, while we, the Israelis, have prevented us from TV and cinema festivals, and all kinds of artistic events. Some writers do not even want their translated works in the Hebrew language. “
“The liberals in Israel are humanitarian, we want peace, and we feel an attack from home and abroad,” she continues. “We have been prevented from the world even if we need the most support. We need people to support us.”
Marcus, who was supposed to travel to New Jersey to give a lecture on wartime spelling, says her drawings have advantages with volunteer Orthodox Jews in Israel and even protests in the past.
The livelihood of the local industry is already based on joint production and international sales because the country is very small so that ambitious projects cannot be funded locally. But since the beginning of the war in Gaza, “many common products have been stopped and no one has built. Many people have stopped responding to calls.”
The slowdown in Israeli creators and artists is not always political motives. Marcus says that the third season of “Tehran” was not released by Apple TV+ outside Israel, claiming that it is remarkable
Apple TV+ did not respond immediately diverseRequest to comment.
The Israeli broadcaster, who was eventually broadcast in December after delaying it, was in a statement that the broadcast “was postponed with the approval of the parties after the outbreak of the war.”
But everything is not lost to the Israeli creative society in the face of the war. Just two weeks or so ago, the country hosted the first written event in Tel Aviv, as well as the twenty -seventh version of the Docaviv International Documentary Festival.
“It is a miracle to meet in Tel Aviv in these events.
“I hope these wars will end as soon as possible, that the tragic loss in life in all sides will stop, and to start building a new future – it will also allow us to build creative bridges in the region,” says Stern.
