With 9 nominations, Ajami is seen as the frontrunner for best film
The box-office success of 2009 and 13 nominations – A Matter of Size
Loved by the critics, Eyes Wide Open only picked up 2 nominations
The ever-popular Dana Ivgy has been nominated for best actress in two films – Jaffa (pictured) and Those Were The Nights
Shot almost entirely inside a military tank, Lebanon is proving to be huge on the international film festival circuit. It also collected 10 nominations
Acclaimed performances and 11 nominations for The Loners
Veteran film maker Eitan Green picked up 2 nominations, including best screenplay, for It All Begins At Sea
An experimental film, Phobidilia was invited to the Toronto Film Festival and also picked up 3 nominations, including best actor for Ofer Schechter
Two nominations for Raymonde Ansalam – best actress for 7 Minutes in Heaven (pictured) and best supporting actress for Lebanon
Tzachi Grad picked up his sixth career Academy nomination – supporting actor for his role in Eli & Ben
Dror Keren received his first nomination for best actor in Five Hours From Paris
The Worst Company in the World picked up best documentary feature nomination
Best actress at the Jerusalem Film Festival makes Rita Zohar favourite to take out the same award at the Academy for her role in Mrs Moskowitz and the Cats
A delayed release for The Tale of Nicolai and the Law in Return but the film received a best feature documentary nomination
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In what has been described as an exceptional year for Israeli film, A Matter of Size leads the Ophirs field with 13 nominations, announced by the Israel Academy of Film at the end of July. But it is the film Ajami that is seen as the frontrunner for the main awards. Ajami picked up the Wolgin Award for best Israeli feature film at the recent Jerusalem International Film Festival (A Matter of Size was the opening film) and it will be screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival 2009 in August.
With the winning film going forward to represent Israel at the Academy Awards, it is anticipated that voting will bear its chances in mind. Both Waltz With Bashir and Beaufort received nominations for best foreign language film in the last 2 years, but came away empty handed. With the subject of both films being Lebanon and the military, it is generally felt that this will rule out both Lebanon and The Loners as being selected for best Israeli film of the year.
The big surprise was the snubbing of Eyes Wide Open, which received only 2 nominations (supporting actor and production design). The first Israeli film to be confirmed at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival, Eyes Wide Open was seen as a potential major contender for the main awards. Lead actor Zohar Strauss picked up best actor award at Jerusalem, ahead of all five best actor Ophir nominees.
| Ajami |
| Lebanon |
| The Loners |
| A Matter of Size |
| Those Were the Nights |
| Sasha Agronov | The Loners |
| Izik Cohen | A Matter of Size |
| Yoav Donat | Lebanon |
| Dror Keren | Five Hours From Paris |
| Ofer Schechter | Phobidilia |
| Raymonde Ansalam | Seven Minutes In Heaven |
| Dana Ivgy | Those Were the Nights & Jaffa |
| Irit Kaplan | A Matter of Size |
| Ethel Kobinska | Valentina’s Mother |
| Rita Zohar | Mrs Moskovitz and the Cats |
| Shmulik Maoz | Lebanon |
| Sharon Maymon & Erez Tadmor | A Matter of Size |
| Roni Ninio | Those Were the Nights |
| Renen Schorr | The Loners |
| Yaron Shani & Scandar Copti | Ajami |
| Dvir Benedek | A Matter of Size |
| Ran Danker | Eyes Wide Open |
| Tzachi Grad | Eli & Ben |
| Anton Ostrovski | The Loners |
| Zohar Shtrauss | Lebanon |
| Raymonde Ansalam | Lebanon |
| Yivgenia Dodina | Those Were the Nights |
| Silvia Drori | Valentina’s Mother |
| Levana Finkelstein | A Matter of Size |
| Rotem Zussman-Cohen | The Loners |
| Eitan Green | It All Begins At Sea |
| Sharon Maymon & Danny Cohen-Solal | A Matter of Size |
| Shmulik Moaz | Lebanon |
| Yaron Shani & Scandar Copti | Ajami |
| Moshe Zonder, Guy Meirson & Renen Schorr | The Loners |
| Giora Bejach | Lebanon |
| David Garfinkel | The Loners & A Matter of Size |
| Ofer Inov | Those Were the Nights |
| Boaz Yonatan-Yaakov | Ajami |
| Einat Glasser-Zarhin | The Loners & A Matter of Size |
| Arik Lahav-Leibovitch | Lebanon |
| Era Lapid | It All Begins At Sea |
| Yaron Shani & Scandar Copti | Ajami |
| Ido Dolev | The Loners |
| Orly Hummel | Phobidilia |
| Ariel Roshko | Lebanon |
| Yoram Shayer | A Matter of Size |
| Yoav Sinai | Ajami |
| Rachel Zussman | Those Were the Nights |
| Lee Almabik | |
| Yim Brosiloboski | Eyes Wide Open |
| Rona Doron | Ajami |
| Laura Sheim | Those Were the Nights |
| Inbal Shuki | A Matter of Size |
| Rabih Boukari | Ajami |
| Eyal Leon-Katzav | A Matter of Size |
| Shem Tov Levi | The Loners |
| Shmulik Nuipaled | Those Were the Nights |
| Shoshan | |
| Itzhak Cohen, Gadi Raz & Tamir Atli | Phobidilia |
| Itai Elohev & Erez Eini-Shavit | Ajami |
| David Lis & Alex Claude | Lebanon |
| Asi Milo, Aviv Aldema & Israel David | The Loners |
| Ronen Nagel, Israel David & Ravid Dvir | A Matter of Size |
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