An Israeli Oscar winner promises to hand over a prize to Israel

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Israeli filmmaker Guy Nattiv, whose short film "Skin" won Sunday's Oscar for Best Short Film, announced that he would bring the precious gold statuette to Israel as his film is "half Israeli" .

Congratulations from senior Israeli officials flocked after Nattiv won the Oscar with his wife, actress Jamie Ray Newman, and co-writer and fellow Israeli Sharon Maymon.

Nattiv highlighted the film's legacy at the 12th Annual Awards Ceremony via a video link.

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"We will bring the prize to Israel for everyone because this film is half Israeli," he said. "We are Israeli producers and this film was made by Israelis."

At the ceremony, while he was accepting the award, Nattiv stressed his Israeli origins.

"Oh my God, I came from Israel five years ago," Nattiv said on stage before moving on to Hebrew. "Laila tov, Yisrael (good night, Israel)," he said.

President Reuven Riviln congratulated Nattiv in a statement on Monday.

"Dear Guy, Sharon and Jaime Ray have all the credits for" Skin ", but the film is a gift for our children and grandchildren and for the future we wish for them." Proud to be Israeli Mazal Tov!

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein tweeted: "Warm congratulations to Guy Nattiv for his Oscar! This morning, I heard Guy talk enthusiastically about Israeli production and the great feat of Israel, and we are all excited about him. Great pride! "

"Hello Guy Nattiv," tweeted Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon. "You brought a great honor to us and to all Israel at the Oscars. An exciting and inspiring moment. I hope that many other Israeli children will follow in your footsteps and continue to produce a revolutionary, quality cinema for us and the world. "

Transport Minister Israel Katz also praised the feat by tweeting: "Guy, you made us very proud. Thank you."

Other legislators tweeted their congratulations on Monday morning as the Israelis woke up and learned the news of the victory.

Nattiv, who grew up in Israel and now lives in Los Angeles, also expressed his pride of being an Israeli filmmaker.

"I am Israeli, all my creativity comes from where I grew up and I am very proud to be Israeli here and present this film. I think we have incredible cinema in Israel, "he told military radio, describing the film as" half-Israeli and half-American ".

"The brains behind" Skin "are completely Israeli," he said.

Nattiv assumed that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars, was attracted by the messages in his film about racism and gun control. He attributed to his surviving Holocaust grandparents the motivation behind the film on race relations.

the 20 minutes The film, which tells the gang war that breaks out in a small town after a black man smiled at a white child in a supermarket, has become a feature film of the same name, also directed by Nattiv.

"It's surreal," he told military radio. "We were not the favorite, we were behind a Canadian film, but apparently, the academy took into account the statement against racism … gun control and everything related to the country at the moment.

"We are seeing more and more neo-Nazism and Nazism in the United States and Europe," he said. "In the United States, there are large neo-Nazi parties," he said.

"This is a very worrying phenomenon. In fact, it is not only against the Jews, but also against African Americans and foreigners in general, and it goes back to what my grandfather and my grandmother lived through those dark years. since."

Nattiv said that although racism is not as important in New York and Los Angeles, it is becoming more common outside major cities.

"You start to see a confederate flag, you start to understand what it's really white racism. How much hate exists in the backyard of America, and it has already become halfway to the front yard of America. "

Associated Press contributed to this report.

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