Opening Night Gala Awards & Screening - December 5, 2009 7:30 PM
SVA Theatre - 333 W. 23rd Street, New York City
Elliott Gould
Academy Award Nominated Actor
2009 IFF LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Celebrated actor Elliot Gould is one of the defining stars of 1970’s American film. Mr. Gould’s breakout film performance was as Billy Minsky in The Night They Raided Minsky’s (William Friedkin, 1968). Prominent roles followed and he quickly rose to stardom, becoming one of the top five highest paid actors in Hollywood by the end of 1970. Notable performance include Ted Henderson in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (Paul Mazursky, 1969), for which Mr. Gould was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award; an iconic turn as Trapper John McIntyre in the hugely successful M*A*S*H (Robert Altman, 1970), which won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 1970 at age 32, Mr. Gould’s picture graced the cover of Time magazine, which named him Star for an Uptight Age in the headline and in an accompanying feature article titled Elliot Gould: The Urban Don Quixote. Time suggested that within Gould the tightly-wound audiences of the early seventies recognized their own insecurities and neuroses transformed into something both funny and shockingly real. Mr. Gould has continued entertain audiences around the world with performances in television and film.
The Israel Film Festival is honored to recognize Elliot Gould’s tremendous achievements and body of work with the 2009 IFF Lifetime Achievement Award.
Donald Krim
President / Founder Kino International
2009 IFF VISIONARY AWARD
Donald Krim bought the one year old Kino International in 1977 when it was a 35MM classics only operation. Under Mr. Krim’s leadership, Kino International evolved to one of the leading and most durable stand alone film distributors in the country.
For twenty years Kino has been at the forefront of bringing the best of new Israeli cinema to the United States starting with Renen Schorr’s evocative Late Summer Blues and including Amos Gitai’s Kadosh and Kippur, Cannes Camera D’or winner Or, Joseph Cedar’s Academy Award nominated Beaufort and this year’s submission from Israel to the Academy Awards Ajami.
The Israel Film Festival is honored to recognize Donald Krim’s leadership and vision as a critical force to the showcasing of Israeli cinema in the United States with the 2009 IFF Visionary Award.
Paul Schrader
Acclaimed Writer / Director
2009 IFF Achievement in Film Award
Paul Schrader is one of America’s most highly regarded writer-directors. Mr. Schrader’s first success came with his screenplay for The Yakuza, directed by Sydney Pollack, in 1974. He quickly followed this with the screenplay for Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and his directorial debut with Blue Collar staring Harvey Keitel and Richard Pryor.
Schrader's career as a director reflects his vast knowledge and love of different film styles and genres, ranging from the Neo-Western Hardcore, to the romantic thriller American Gigilo, the supernatural Cat People, the artist's biography Mishima, the political docudrama Patty Hearst, the erotic thriller The Comfort of Strangers, the haunting Light Sleeper and the ironic Touch.
The Israel Film Festival is honored to recognize Paul Schrader’s unique vision and uncompromising dedication to his craft with the 2009 IFF Achievement in Film Award.
