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Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev on Sunday congratulated Nadav Lapid, director of the French-Israeli film "Synonyms", which won first prize at the Berlin Film Festival on Saturday.
Regev strongly criticized the Israeli artists who displayed what she saw as disloyalty to the state and said that neither she nor any member of her ministry had seen the film, which had won the first-ever Bear gold for Israel.
"Congratulations to Nadav Lapid for winning the award. This is further evidence of the successes of Israeli cinema. However, no one in my ministry has seen the film yet and we do not know if it would raise issues that could harm the state of Israel, its symbols and its values. " said Regev of Channel 13 News.
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Since his appointment, Regev has had tense relations with the cultural community and is accused of trying to bring Israeli artists closer to his warmongering political ideology.
This absurd and largely autobiographical film tells the story of an Israeli who settles in Paris to flee the difficult political situation prevailing at home.
Lapid said, accepting the award, that some films in Israel could be "scandalized" by the film "but for me, the film is also a big party – a celebration, I hope, also cinema."
Director Nadav Lapid, on the left, receives the golden bear of the best film "Synonyms" of the jury president, Juliette Binoche, at the awards ceremony of the Berlinale Film Festival 2019 in Berlin , Germany, on Saturday, February 16, 2019. (AP / Markus Schreiber)
The jury, chaired by French actress Juliette Binoche, chose the film from a group of 16 candidates at the first of the biggest European film festivals of the year. Located in Paris, it stars Tom Mercier in the role of Yoav, who refuses to speak Hebrew and is accompanied by an ubiquitous French dictionary while he tries to root and take root. to create a new identity.
"I hope people will understand that fury, rage, hostility and hate … are only twin brothers and sisters strongly attached and moved in a powerful way," he said. "I hope that people will not only watch this film tough or radical political statement because it is not the case," he told reporters, describing it as "a human statement." , existential and artistic, "said Lapid.
Back home, Lapid told the press that he "was never considered an ambassador to Israel", although he welcomed all the wishes of sympathizers on his return flight to Tel Aviv.
He said that although he had criticized Regev a lot, he would be "very happy" if she "watched the film from end to end and expressed his opinion" because it was just as important for him to show his films differing opinions. his.
The last Israeli to win a prize at the festival was filmmaker Joseph Cedar, who won the 2007 Silver Bear Award for Best Director.
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