Makor Foundation for Israeli Films is a registered nonprofit organization founded in 1996 and operating since then to provide financial and professional support for the creation of independent film and television productions. The Foundation invests in documentary films and documentary television series (short films of 7 to 30 minutes, feature films of 45 minutes and more, and series of 30 minutes and more per episode), in short narrative films, in animated shorts, and in films produced with new technologies (up to 30 minutes in length). Over the years, films produced with the Foundation’s support have been screened in cinemas and broadcast on television in Israel and around the world. Recently the Foundation’s films have been available for viewing on the various digital platforms — mobile, internet, and the VOD facilities of the broadcasters involved. Many of the Foundation’s films have been awarded prestigious prizes in Israel and elsewhere and have been screened at numerous festivals, film events, and art events.
The Foundation’s Structure
The Foundation is registered with the Israeli government as an NPO (non-profit organization). The following are its board members and committees:
The Public Board
Hillel Nossek, (Chair) | Eli Ben Gera | Erica Ben Mordechai | Yoram Belizovsky | Ruthie Braverman | Uri Dromi | Michal Rafaeli-Kaduri | Niva Mandelblit | Uri Paz | Miri Talmon | Prof. Amir Har-Gil | Anat Zisman
Control Committee: Dror Tene | Prof. Asya Pazi
Program Committee: Ruthie Braverman (Chair); Erica Ben Mordecai | Niva Mandelblit | Dr. Miri Talmon | Prof. Amir Har-Gil
Finance Committee: Yoram Blizovsky (Chair) | Eli Ben Gera | Prof. Hillel Nossek
Resources Committee: Michal Rafaeli-Kaduri (Chair) | Uri Dromi | Anat Zisman
Membership Committee: Eli Ben Gera (Chair) | Erica Ben Mordecai | Uri Dromi
Appeals Committee: Prof. Hillel Nossek (Chair) | Dr. Uri Paz | Osnat Trabelsi
Ethics Committee: Dr. Uri Paz (Chair) | Prof. Hillel Nossek | Dr. Miri Talmon | Michal Rafaeli-Kaduri | Niva Mandelblit
Professional Staff
CEO and Artistic Director — Amit Goren
Deputy CEO — Eveline Kluger-Kadish
Director of Content & Community Relation – Vicki Cohen
Accountant — Avi Perl
Legal Advisor — Adv. Eylam Weiss
Vision and Values
Makor Foundation invests in the development, production and professional advancement of documentary films and short films. The Foundation addresses itself to the entire community of Israeli filmmakers, without bias and irrespective of race, ethnic background, religious affiliation and gender, with the goal of supporting independent Israeli production of documentary films and short narrative films, animated films, and films utilizing new technologies.
Makor Foundation applies itself, under full transparency and self-auditing, to support the full realization of the talents and skills of those creating cinema that is innovative, ground-breaking, thought-provoking, consciousness-raising, surprising, and inquisitive, and that strives to confront stereotypical worldviews and explore truth and humanity.
Makor Foundation supports films that reflect and express the Israeli experience, past and present, from all cultural, social, and political perspectives and inclinations, informing that experience and with an emphasis on the quest for excellence in creation and on refining and honing the creators’ personal voices and cinematic statements.
The Makor Foundation embraces three principles as components to be examined strictly and to serve as guidance for the filmmakers: Ethics, – the ethical and moral stand of the filmmakers as they handle the topic of their film as well as how they behave toward their subjects; Semantics – the use of cinematic language and style as befits the film’s topic and its characters; and Aesthetics – an insistence on precise and professional cinematic expression that meets the highest standards of the medium.
Makor Foundation works on behalf of the filmmakers, and in cooperation with them, to enlist resources and raise funding for development, production, and distribution from the private sector, the business sector and from public institutions and foundations in Israel and abroad. The goal is to create collaborations and co-operations across a broad range of topics with a rich, updated and diverse cinematic language in the documentary, narrative, and animated genres, in utilizing new technologies, and in developing new channels for distribution.
Makor Foundation provides filmmakers with professional guidance, tutoring and mentoring in filmmaking: scriptwriting, cinematography, editing, and visual design. The Foundation helps broaden the filmmakers’ professional knowledge, enriching it by means of activities in seminars, conferences, workshops, and festivals, including group and personal meetings with esteemed and influential figures of cinema, television, and new media from Israel and abroad.
Makor Foundation initiates cooperative projects with commercial distributors, international festivals, broadcasters in Israel and abroad, educational institutions and public institutions in order to help the filmmakers fulfill and maximize the business potential of their films and distribute them to audiences in Israel and abroad.
Diversity of thought, culture and opinion is the core of Israeli democracy, and it is enshrined at the heart of the Makor Foundation’s activities together with a belief in the importance of understanding the “other” and of empathizing with those who are different in order to encourage tolerance, awareness, and social involvement.
