A list of guest speakers from over a quarter of a century of the Israeli Film Festival in Philadelphia.

Amit Lior

Speaking at Superboy at The Perelman Jewish Day School in 1999 and at Afula Express at Gershman Y in 1999

Amit Lior is an Israeli screenwriter and actor. From 2004-2005, he served as chairman of the Israeli Screenswriters Union, and since January 2011 has served as the chairman of the association. Lior is the winner of the Israeli Academy of Television Award for "Wadi Trumpet" and "Touching Distance." In 2003 he won the Israeli Film Art Award.

Anat Klausner

Speaking at Frozen Days at Gratz College in 2007

Anat Klausner is an actress and casting director, known for Frozen Days (Yamim Kfuim) (2005), The Assassin Next Door (2009) and The Little Traitor (2007).

Anat Zalmanson-Kuznetsov

Speaking at Operation Wedding at KleinLife in 2017

Anat Zalmanson-Kuznetsov is an Israeli film director. She is best known for her fascinating documentary Operation Wedding, detailing the dramatic events around the Dymshits–Kuznetsov aircraft hijacking affair, an attempt to steal a civilian aircraft on 15 June 1970 by a group of 16 Soviet refuseniks in order to escape to the West.

Ari Folman

Speaking at Saint Carla at Gershman Y in 1998

Ari Folman an Israeli film director, screenwriter, animator and film score composer. He is best known for directing his Oscar-nominated animated documentary film Waltz with Bashir (2008) as well as directing the live-action/animated film The Congress. Folman lives in Tel-Aviv.

Arik Kaplon

Speaking at Yana's Friends at Prince Music Theater in 2000

Arik Kaplon is an Israeli film director and screenwriter, winner of multiple awards including Best Director and Best Screenwriter at the Israeli Academy Awards Ophir. Kaplon was born and raised in Moscow, Russia. He immigrated to Israel in 1980, and in 1981 began studying film at Tel Aviv University. During his studies, he wrote and directed several films, some short films, and others documentaries. Among his films from that period: "Solo for the Good" (1986), "Migrants" (1987) and "Free Crime" (1990). His most prominent film, "Yana's Friends," was written and directed by Kaplon in 1999.

Avi Vaknin

Speaking at Rock in the Red Zone at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in 2016

Avi Vaknin is a singer, composer, writer and music producer, born and raised in Sderot, Israel.

Barbara Greenspan Shaiman

Speaking at Because Of That War at Kaiserman JCC in 1998

Barbara Greenspan Shaiman, M.Ed is the founder of the Champions of Caring Project which honors toung pepole of high school age who most exemplify the life enhancing lessons from the Holocaust through community work. A daughter of Holocaust survivors, Ms Eisenbud is the Chairperson of the Committee for the Yom Hashoah Memorial Ceremony.

Benny Fredman

Speaking at Home at Philadelphia Film Center in 2024

For a decade, Benny Fredman owned a chain of stores in ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhoods. After graduating from the Camera Obscura School of Art, he directed and produced the Netflix thriller "Suicide," the series "Suspect", and the documentary "Moving to the Embassy".

Dan Ashbel

Speaking at Borders at Gershman Y in 2000

Dan Ashbel is a retired Israeli Ambassador. In 1975 Ashbel joined Israel's diplomatic Service, and in 1978 became First Secretary for Press and Cultural Affairs at the embassy of Israel in Bonn, Germany. in 1998 he served as a Press Counselor at the Israeli embassy to the United Kingdom in London. During that period he participated in the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference. Ashbel was the Political Advisor to the Knesset (Israel's Parliament). From September 2011 to April 2016 Dan Ashbel served as Israel's Ambassador to Finland and Estonia.

Dan Shadur

Speaking at Before the Revolution at Gratz College in 2014

Dan Shadur is an Israeli filmmaker and writer. His documentaries King Bibi and Before the Revolution were screened in major film festivals around the world including Hotdocs and Jerusalem Film Festival.

Dani Menkin

Speaking at On The Map - Hillel at Drexel University at Hillel at Drexel University in 2017, at On The Map - Ritz East at The Ritz East in 2017, at Is That You? at Lightbox Film Center at the International House in 2017 and at Dolphin Boy at The Franklin Institute, Franklin Theatre in 2012

Dani Menkin is an Israeli filmmaker director, screenwriter and film producer. Menkin's award winning film Dolphin Boy (2011) received international recognition and won several nominations and awards, the "Jury Mention Award" at the Jerusalem International Film Festival. Menkin is a speaker at some distinguish panels in International Festivals around the world, as well as a juror and film instructor in American and Israelis universities.

David Deri

Speaking at The Ancestral Sin at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in 2019 and at You Only Die Twice at Kimmel Center, Perelman Theatre in 2019

David Deri is an Israeli director and writer. He is known for Sallah ("Po Ze Eretz Yisrael") (2017), You Only Die Twice (2018) and Avudim: Lost with Tzufit Grant (2011).

David Ofek

Speaking at A Hebrew Lesson at Gershman Y in 2008 and at Handa Handa 4 at Gratz College in 2014

David Ofek is an Israeli producer and film maker. He is the co-creator of the popular Israeli TV series Bat Yam - New York (1995-97) and No. 17 (2003). Ofek won the Israeli Academy Award for Best Documentary and received other international awards. He was represented in Rotterdam with A Hebrew Lesson and Melanoma My Love, which he co-directed. Ofek is a graduate of the Sam Spiegel Film School in Jerusalem and was awarded several prizes for his graduation short film Home (1994).

David Rabeeya

Speaking at Chronicle Of A Disappearance at Gershman Y in 1999

Dr. David Rabeeya is an Israeli and American author and professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies. David Rabeeya is an Iraqi Jew born in Baghdad, Iraq. In 1951, his family migrated to Israel. In 1970 Dr. Rabeeya moved to the United States. Over the years, Dr. Rabeeya has taught countless elementary school, high school, and university students. A prolific author, Dr. Rabeeya has written many books focusing on the Middle East and the relationship between Jews and other groups. He currently works as a teacher for Middle and High School students.

Dina Zvi-Riklis

Speaking at Three Mothers at Gershman Y in 2007

Dina Zvi-Riklis (born 1947) is an Israeli film director and screenwriter. She has directed and written several feature films, television dramas and documentaries. In 1993, she directed her first full-length feature film, "A Story Beginning at the Serpent's Funeral" (based on Ronit Matalon's book), starring Moshe Ivgi. She directed "My Brethren" (2002), with the participation of Moshe Ivgi and Orly Zilbershatz-Banai. The film won the Volgin Award. In 2006, her movie "Three Mothers", written by Gila Almagor and Miri Messika won several Israeli academy awards. Zvi-Riklis Won the 1991 Minister of Education and Culture for Film Art.

Dr. Carmella Tress

Speaking at Beneath The Silence at The Ritz East in 2018

Dr. Carmella Tress is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. She is a trainer and consultant in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Dr. Tress is the Co-Leader of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science Special Interest Group for Leadership, Organization Behavior Management and Public Policy (ACBS LOPP SIG).

Elinor Sela

Speaking at Seven Blessings at Philadelphia Film Center in 2024

Eleanor Sela is a screenwriter, actress and producer. She created and wrote the feature film 'Seven Blessings,' which won 10 Israeli Academy Awards, including Best Film and Best Screenplay. It was chosen by the Israeli film critics society as the best Israeli film of 2023 and has also been selected as Israel’s entry to the 2024 Oscars. Eleanor acted in one of the leading roles in the film. She created the successful stand-up show 'A Thousand Faces, One Truth' – an artistic stand-up startup with customized writing. Each show is a one-off, and Eleanor has performed it in Israel and abroad for over a decade in front of the largest commercial bodies in Israel. Additionally, Eleanor has written, directed, and produced video content for numerous companies. Her book 'From a Life of Permission to a Life of Inspiration' was published in 2021 and became a bestseller.

Eliran Malka

Speaking at The Unorthodox at Lightbox Film Center at the International House in 2019

Eliran Malka is an Israeli director and screenwriter, known for creating the "Shabaniks" series, for which he won the Israeli Academy of Television Award, and the movie "The Unorthodox". Some of his artistic award nominations include Ophir Award for Best Director and Ophir Award for Best Screenplay.

Eran Preis

Speaking at Scaffolding at Bryn Mawr Film Institute in 2018, at When You Played at Lightbox Film Center at the International House in 2013 and at Audition at Lightbox Film Center at the International House in 2013

Eran Preis is an Israeli–American director, screenwriter, playwright, and producer. Beyond the Walls, a film he co-wrote in 1984, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He has taught screenwriting and International Cinema for decades.

Eran Riklis

Speaking at A Borrowed Identity at The Ritz East in 2015

Eran Riklis is an accomplished Israeli filmmaker. His films include Cup Final (1991), The Syrian Bride (2004), Lemon Tree (2008) and Dancing Arabs (also known as A Borrowed Identity) (2014). In 1993 Riklis directed "Zohar", the biggest box office success for an Israeli film in the 90s, followed by several TV series and by "Vulcan Junction" (1999) which won the Best Film award at the Haifa International Film Festival. In 2004 his film "The Syrian Bride" achieved wide international success and won various awards, including four awards at the Montreal International Film Festival.

Etgar Keret

Speaking at Jellyfish at International House in 2008

Etgar Keret is an Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels, and scriptwriting for film and television. Keret's writing style is lean, using everyday language, slang, and dialect. Often his stories are surreal, but believably so, leaving you in a curious world much like yours, where the boundaries of possibility are easily changing. His work has influenced many writers of his generation, as well as bringing a renewed surge in popularity for the short story form in Israel in the second half of the 1990s. Keret has received the Israeli Prime Minister's award for literature, as well as the Ministry of Culture's Cinema Prize. In 2006 he was chosen as an outstanding artist of the prestigious Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation.

Evelyn Kaplon

Speaking at Yana's Friends at Prince Music Theater in 2000

Evelyn Kaplon is an Israeli actress. She won the Ophir Award for Best Lead Actress in the film "Friends of Jana". Kaplon received her first public acclaim when starring in Julie Schelez's "Afula Express", alongside Zvika Hadar and Estee Zackheim. The film won the prestigious Volgin Award at the Jerusalem Festival and won six Israeli Academy Awards. In 1999, Kaplon starred alongside Nir Levy and Musco Alkalay in Eric Kaplon's "Yana's Friends". As with her own past experiences, Kaplon played a young Russian immigrant to Israel living a hard day in the background of the Gulf War. The film won ten Israeli Academy Awards, among them the best film, and Kaplon won the best actress award. Kaplon then won the Best Actress Award at the Philippine Film Festival and the Karlovy Vary Festival.

Eytan Fox

Speaking at Walk On Water at International House in 2005 and at Cupcakes at The Ritz East in 2014

Eytan Fox is one of Israel's leading directors. His films - among them Yossi and Jagger, Walk on Water, The Bubble, Yossi, and Cupcakes - have been released theatrically in over 30 countries and have won 28 international awards, including some from the Berlin Film Festival, the Tribeca Film Festival and the National Board of Review, USA.

Gilad Goldschmidt

Speaking at Green Chariot at Congregation Or Shalom in 2006

Gilad Goldschmidt is a graduate of the Ma’ale School of Television, Film and Arts in Jerusalem. For the past 25 years, he has worked as an independent filmmaker, director and producer of films and advertisements for the Israeli government and a screenplay consultant and editor of TV programs for Israel’s Channel 2. Among his films is the TV drama “A Green Chariot,” which explores the life of a Russian immigrant who turns religious in Israel.

Hanna Azoulay-Hasfari

Speaking at Orange People at Bryn Mawr Film Institute in 2015

Hanna Azoulay-Hasfari is an Israeli actress, screenwriter, playwright, film director and a two-time winner of the Ophir Award. She is a women's rights activist, and has dedicated her career promoting awareness regarding social justice issues and cultural diversity. In 2015, she was invited to speak at the United Nations headquarters in New York, in honor of International Women's Day, where she presented a screening of her film Orange People, in condemnation of child marriage.

Hen Yanni

Speaking at Melting Away at Drexel University, Westphal College, Edmond D. Bossone Research Enterprise Center in 2012

Hen Yanni played the major role in the feature film "The Other War”. She played a supporting role in the feature film "Melach Yam", directed by Itay Lev, where she made a Cover version to Shlomo Artzi's song "You will Never know". In 2012 Yanni played a supporting role in Haim Buzaglo's feature film "Blank Blank". In 2011 she starred Doron Eran's film "Melting Away", in which she played the lead role of a transgender person. In "Melting Away", she sings two songs, one of them is "Danny Boy". Yanni won a breakthrough performance award at the LGBT Tel Aviv international Film Festival, and was nominated for the Best Actress award in the 2013 Israeli Academy Awards Ophir.

Hilla Medalia

Speaking at Dancing in Jaffa at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in 2014

Hilla Medalia is a George Foster Peabody Award winning director and producer. She received 3 Emmy Award nominations and won the Paris Human Rights Film Festival Jury Award, Fipa Biarritz Jury Award, Golden Warsaw Phoenix Award, Faito Doc Grand Jury Award, and more.

Ian Lustick

Speaking at Borders at Gershman Y in 2000

Dr. Ian Lustick is an American political scientist and specialist on the modern history and politics of the Middle East. He is a founder and past president of the Association for Israel Studies and past president of the American Political Science Association Politics and History Section. Lustick completed his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley in 1976 with a dissertation titled Arabs in the Jewish State: A Study in the Effective Control of a Minority Population. He is the Bess W. Heyman Professor of Political science at the University of Pennsylvania.

Irit Sheleg

Speaking at Fill the Void at The Ritz East in 2013

Irit Sheleg is a Israeli actress, director, and fashion designer. She is the winner of the Ophir Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 2012 film Fill the Void.

Leo Vinovezky

Speaking at Like A Fish Out Of The Water at Congregation Or Shalom in 2007

Born in Argentina, Leo Vinovezky holds degrees in political science and international relations at the Hebrew University, and in the field of immigration and social integration at Ruppin Academic Center. As part of his service in the Foreign Ministry, he was a political cadet in the Information and Communications Department

Levana Finkelstein

Speaking at The Farewell Party at Lightbox Film Center at the International House in 2015

Levana Finkelstein is an accomplished Israeli film, television and theater actress, winner of the Ophir Award for Best Supporting Actress. She appeared in more than thirty films since 1969.  In addition to acting, Finkelstein also engages in artistic sculpture. In 1991 she was awarded the AMI Award for her roles in cinema.

Marek Rozenbaum

Speaking at Late Marriage at Prince Music Theater in 2002

Marek Rozenbaum holds a degree in Social work and Film from the Tel Aviv University. He has directed 2 films and produced over 40 feature films and international co-productions, among them award-winning films that have received worldwide recognition. Rozenbaum is the Chairman of Public Steering Committee of Film and Television at the Israeli Export Institute and is also acting as the Chairman of the Israeli Academy for Cinema and Television.

Maya Maron

Speaking at Camp Fire at International House in 2006

Maya Maron is an Israeli actress and winner of the Israeli Film Academy Award. Maron is known for Broken Wings (2002), Saint Clara (1996) and The Arbitrator (2007).

Micha Biton

Speaking at Rock in the Red Zone at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in 2016

Micha Biton is one of the early pioneers of the renowned music scene in Sederot, Israel. As a small child he performed in major festivals and competitions representing his city and was considered a musical child prodigy. He regularly tours in Europe and in North America.

Michael Moshonov

Speaking at The Flood (Mabul) at The Ritz East in 2012

Michael Moshonov  is an Israeli actor, rapper, musician and TV host. Moshonov won the Ophir Award for Best Actor twice, for Lost Islands and for The Human Resources Manager. Moshonov is the son of actors Moni Moshonov and Sandra Sade, and is the brother of the opera singer Alma Moshonov. In 2010, he played in Guy Nattiv's movie Mabul (The Flood). For his performance in this film Moshonov was the recipient of an Ophir Award in the "Best Supporting Actor" category.

Moran Rosenblatt

Speaking at Wedding Doll at The Ritz East in 2016

Moran Rosenblatt is a multi-award winning Israeli actress. In 2013 Moran took one of the lead role in Snails in the Rain and won the Best Actress award at the LGBT Film Festival in Tel-Aviv. Her leading roles in Apples in the Desert and Wedding Doll had won her nominations and critical acclaim.

Neta Riskin

Speaking at Shelter at The Ritz East in 2018 and at Longing at Lightbox Film Center at the International House in 2018

Neta Riskin is an Israeli actress. She is known for her work on Shtisel (2013), The Gordin Cell (2012), A Tale of Love and Darkness (2015), and Shelter (2017). Though she didn’t decide on a career in acting until later in life, Riskin has become an icon of Israeli acting. She starred in the psychological TV thriller “The Gordin Cell” and the movie “Shelter,” in which she plays a Mossad agent. As a “sideline” she is an accent coach, her most famous client being Natalie Portman, whom she taught to perfect her Hebrew for her role as Amos Oz’s troubled mother in “A Tale of Love and Darkness.”

Nitzan Giladi

Speaking at Wedding Doll at The Ritz East in 2016

Nitzan Giladi is an Israeli film director who has written, produced and directed many documentary films, included In Satmar Custody (2003), Jerusalem Is Proud to Present (2008), The Last Enemy (2009) and It runs in the Family (2010). Giladi's films have received multiple international awards, participated in over 120 international film festivals and broadcast in prestigious TV channels over the world including Sundance Channel and ZDF-ARTE. His TV work includes Singing to Oblivion - The Story of Miri Aloni, Do Not Call Me Black, and Dark Southern Deal.

Oded Adomi Leshem

Speaking at Voices from El-Sayed at Lightbox Film Center at the International House in 2011

Oded Gur-Arie

Speaking at The Champagne Spy at Gratz College in 2008

Oded Gur-Arie was just a boy when he learned that his dad (known by his cover name, Wolfgang Lotz) was a spy. Today, Gur-Arie teaches entrepreneurship at Adrian College in Michigan.

Rabbi Phil Cohen

Speaking at On The Front Line at Gratz College in 2003

Rabbi Cohen received his ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City.  He earned a Ph.D. in Jewish thought from Brandeis University, and Master of Fine Arts degree from Spalding University in Louisville. He is a strong advocated of Israel, loves theology, Bible, Jewish History, exploring interfaith relations, and reading and writing fiction.  He has just completed his first novel, Desolation Row: A Nick Bones mystery, which, by its title, suggests another might be on the way.

Rana Abu Fraiha

Speaking at In Her Footsteps at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in 2019

Rana Abu Fraihah is an Israeli documentary filmmaker and videographer. Her best-known work is the film In Her Footsteps, which documents her family's story. It premiered at the Jerusalem International Film Festival in 2017, where it won the Van Lir Award for best directing. The film later won a series of awards, among them the Best Documentary Award at the Berlin Jewish Film Festival, the Shulamit Aloni Prize for Human Rights, and the Ophir Award for Best Documentary.

Ravit Turjeman

Speaking at Camp Fire at International House in 2006

over the years Ravit Turjeman has been contributing and facilitating professional panels, serving on jury panels at film festivals, conducting workshops and more.

Reymond Amsalem

Speaking at Seven Minutes in Heaven at Bryn Mawr Film Institute in 2010 and at My Lovely Sister at Bryn Mawr Film Institute in 2012

Reymond Amsalem is an accomplished Israeli actress. She has appeared in many films since the beginning of her professional career in 2003, including Seven Minutes in Heaven (2008), The Human Resources Manager (2010), Dusk (2010), Lebanon (2009), Kirot (2009). Her international fame came with supporting roles in Rendition (2007) and the HBO mini-series House of Saddam (2008). In 2011 Amsalem was the recipient of the Israeli Academy Award Ophir's Best Supporting Actress prize for her role in My Lovely Sister.

Ruth Gruber

Speaking at Exodus 1947 at Gershman Y in 1998

Dr. Ruth Gruber (1911 – 2016) was an American journalist, photographer, writer, humanitarian, and a United States government official. She was a recipient of the Norman Mailer Prize.

Shemi Zarhin

Speaking at Family Secrets at International House in 2001, at Dangerous Acts at Prince Music Theater in 2001, at Aviva My Love at Lightbox Film Center at the International House in 2007, at Passover Fever at Lightbox Film Center at the International House in 2016, at The Kind Words at Lightbox Film Center at the International House in 2016 and at The World is Funny at Lightbox Film Center at the International House in 2013

Shemi Zarhin is an acclaimed Israeli novelist and film director. He was born in Tiberias and studied film at Tel Aviv University. His movies include titles such as Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi (2003), Aviva My Love (2006), and The World is Funny (2012). His first novel Some Day was a bestseller in Israel.

Shimon Dotan

Speaking at The Settlers at Gratz College in 2017

Shimon Dotan is an award winning Israeli film director, screenwriter, and producer. Dotan is the recipient of numerous awards including, the Special Jury Prize for Best World Documentary Feature at Sundance Film Festival (Hot House), Silver Bear for Best Actor at Berlin Film Festival (Smile of the Lamb), Best Film Award at Newport Beach Film Festival (You Can Thank Me Later), two times winner of Israeli Academy Award for Best Film and Best Director (Repeat Dive, Smile Of The Lamb) and others. Dotan’s feature films have received both critical acclaim and commercial success.

Tal Brody

Speaking at On The Map - Hillel at Drexel University at Hillel at Drexel University in 2017 and at On The Map - Ritz East at The Ritz East in 2017

Tal Brody is an American-Israeli former professional basketball player, and current Goodwill Ambassador of Israel. Brody was drafted # 12 in the National Basketball Association draft, but he chose to pass up an NBA career, to instead play basketball in Israel. Brody lives in Israel

Tomer Heymann

Speaking at Mr. Gaga at Kimmel Center, Perelman Theatre in 2016

Tomer Heymann is an Israeli filmmaker. He is best known for his work on the documentary films Paper Dolls, Mr.Gaga and Who's Gonna Love Me Now? Heymann has directed different documentary films and television shows, most of them long-term follow-ups and personal documentations. His films won major awards at different prestigious film festivals.

Tzipi Bider

Speaking at A War Story at Lightbox Film Center at the International House in 2015 and at Seed of Life at Lightbox Film Center at the International House in 2015

Tzipi Bider is an Israeli director, film creator and editor. She is the director of the Channel 10 Documentary department.

Udi Ben Seadia

Speaking at Song Of The Siren at Gershman Y in 1996

Udi Ben Seadia Published numerous satirical columns and short stories in several leading Israeli and American newspapers and journals. He is a popular lecturer on themes and conflicts that face Israeli society through the Israeli cinema, both past and present. These lectures span a wide spectrum of subjects that attract audiences of all ages throughout Israel and abroad.

Yankul Goldwasser

Speaking at Shoelaces at Bryn Mawr Film Institute in 2019

Yankul Goldwasser he is an Israeli filmmaker. He is a member of the Israeli Film Academy Committee. Goldwasser often collaborates with screenwriter Haim Marin. Goldwasser's films include Marin's script: "Under the Nose" (1982), "Stolen Dad" (1989), "Overseas" (1991), "Max and Morris" (1994), "She Has No God" (2006) and "Laces" (2018). Their collaboration broke through the boundaries of film, in the TV series "Mixed Jerusalem" directed by Goldwasser, of which Marin was a member of her screenwriting team.

Yaron Tsur

Speaking at Sh’chur at Gershman Y in 1996

Yaron Tsur, an historian of the Jews in the Muslim lands in the modern era, is among the founders of the Open University of Israel, a professor in the department of Jewish history at Tel-Aviv University and a former chairperson of its graduate school of Jewish studies. He is a pioneer in the field of Digital Humanities in Israel and the founder of the Historical Jewish Press website.

Yehuda Halevi Nahari

Speaking at Incitement at Philadelphia Film Center in 2020

Yehuda Nahari Halevi is an Israeli actor, known for Incitement (2019), Tyrant (2014) and Snails in the Rain (2013).

Yitzhak Rubin

Speaking at White Lies at The Ritz East in 2001

Yitzhak Rubin is a highly acclaimed Israeli novelist, screenplay writer and director. He was born in Israel and studied film in the Maters program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His numerous narrative and documentary films have been screened in cinemas, national television shows and film festivals around the world, and were cherished and praised by audiences and critics. His film "White lies" was based on the novel he wrote "The Hypochondriac". Rubin is a distinguished lecturer at various Film departments. As a social activist, he directed a highly acclaimed trilogy that deals with people that were wrongfully accused of crimes they did not commit.

Yossi Beilin

Speaking at Golda at Philadelphia Film Center in 2020

Dr. Yossi Beilin  is an Israeli politician and scholar who has served in multiple ministerial and leadership positions in the Israeli government. Much of his political career was in the Labour Party. He also served as chairman of the Meretz-Yachad political party. After retiring from political life, Beilin founded 'Beilink', a business consultancy company. He also writes opinion pieces in Israeli papers Haaretz and Israel Hayom. Beilin was a significant figure in the 1990s Israeli–Palestinian peace process. He participated in the back-channel negotiations that eventually led to the adoption of the 1993 Oslo Accords, a framework agreement to end the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Zivit Davidovitch

Speaking at My Special Brother at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in 2017

Zivit Davidovitch is an Israeli executive producer. Davidovitch has a vast experience in a variety of genres and the production of live events, including major sports events like the World Cup and the Euro Cup, in addition to special events like Miss Israel and reality shows on Channel Ten like Survivor, Beauty and the Geek and the Bachelor. She was the Executive Producer of the Eurovision contest production in Israel in 2019. Davidovitch is currently Vice President Content and Production at Channel Ten in Israel.