Hebrew Reali School in Haifa
Israeli students win best foreign film award
From the Hebrew Reali high school in Haifa to Hollywood's red carpet
Israel has reason to take pride in its students: Graduates of the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa were awarded first prize for the "Best High School Drama" in the prestigious annual International Student Film Festival held in Hollywood this week.
The students – Omer Feler (director and cinematographer), Ilia Parfel (editor) and Gili Braslerman (producer) represented Israeli schools in the competition. The film reached the competitions' finals from among 2,000 films sent from all over the globe.
The Haifa film overtook student films sent by universities and colleges worldwide, including from the US, Australia, Canada and Germany.
The film titled "20 years later" tells the story of a meeting set 20 years ago and set to take place between two friends. Over time, it becomes apparent that one of the friends had become a wanted criminal while the other became a policeman. The meeting between the two raises several dilemmas; the main one being whether the policeman should turn his criminal friend in.
The film was shot in the alleyways of the lower city of Haifa, and places emphasis on the universal nature of dilemmas such friendship, values and ethics that not only apply to the characters of the movie but also to people from all walks of life.
The students produced the film within the finals for their Film, Television and Media studies at their high school. The film was also awarded several prizes at the Van Lier Film Festival in Jerusalem and at the Sukkoth film festival in Haifa held for young filmmakers.
The principal of the Reali High School Ron Katri said: "The Hebrew Reali School embraces the talented team who made the movie. These students serve as ambassadors of the city of Haifa and the State of Israel."
