Dvir Benedek with film's poster
Photo: Eyal Asraf
Israeli wins best actor award in Seoul festival
Dvir Benedek receives prize worth $3,000 in South Korea's prestigious Drama Awards Festival for his role as schizophrenic in students' film 'The Tutor'
SEOUL – Dvir Benedek won the Best Actor Award on Tuesday at the Seoul Drama Awards Festival in South Korea.
Last year, the winners of the acting awards at this prestigious festival were British actors Helen Mirren and Franck Deasy for their roles in the "Prime Suspect" series.
Benedek received a prize worth $3,000 for his role in "Hahonech" ("The Tutor"), a students' film directed by Eyal Asraf, a graduate of the Sapir College's Cinema and TV Arts Department, which was also screened at the Cinema South Film Festival.
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The Israeli film, which also received a special prize from the panel of judges, is based on the director's true story. The movie tells the story of a cinema student from Ashkelon who lost his girlfriend in a terror attack and is trying to recover through his cinema studies and by tutoring a young schizophrenic from Kiryat Malachi.
With Zohar Sabag. Based on director's autobiographical story
"Eyal was an officer in the army in 2001 when his girlfriend, whom he was about to marry, died after a suicide bomber detonated himself at the bus station she was standing in," Benedek says.
"All that he had left from her was a message she sent him on the internet that she loves him and is on her way home. He sank into deep depression, and one of the social workers treating him suggested that he tutor a schizophrenic guy. The tutoring of the guy, whose role I play in the film, rehabilitated his life and gave him a sense of proportion. This is in fact the story of his life."
The film's cast includes Tali Sharon, Eran Pesach and Zohar Sabag.
Upon receiving the prize, Benedek told Ynet, "I wondered what caused the judges to find this film equally worthy for a prize like, for example, "Prime Suspect," which is a big budget British series in which millions of pounds were invested, and produced with first-class actors. I thought this was a very good example of a camera crossing the borders of money, budgets and countries.
"I find it very nice that a rich and essentially snobbish festival decided to award Helen Mirren and her series last year, and a low-budget film shot in Sderot and an unfamiliar actor the next year. On the personal level it's exciting.
"It's fun being recognized for things you do, particularly things you did due to your faith in a certain doctrine," he adds. "The fuel for my drives to Ashkelon was paid for from my own pocket. I believe receiving recognition for something you did out of your soul is much more than being recognized for something you were convinced to do."
Benedek is one of Israel's busiest actors, but finds the time, it appears, not only to take part in students' films but also to serve as chairman of Shaham, the Israeli Screen Actors Guild.
The prize, he says, will also encourage independent creators in the field of television. "It's a recognition of independent television, which is flourishing, a field which is much less evident than independent cinema but is growing stronger."
