2010 Ophir Awards: Riklis’ The Mission of the Human Resources Manager Wins 5

This wasn’t just a surprising ceremony. It was total humiliation.

Intimate Grammar, Nir Bergman’s moving story of a boy who mysteriously stops growing, was the favorite to win. Nominated for 12 awards, it was so highly favored to win that the printers were just waiting to complete the one sheet tagline, “Winner of XX Ophir Awards.” With a release date set exactly one day after the ceremony, this beautiful film didn’t win a single award. Not even one. There’s something fishy about why this went home empty-handed, since Bergman is very much appreciated in the industry, being involved in high profile projects in cinema (Broken Wings), and in television (In Treatment).

However, the winner of this year’s Ophir ceremony is the lovely crowd-pleaser The Mission of the Human Resources Manager, by director Eran Riklis. The story of a human resources manager in a bakery in Jerusalem, who sets out on a journey to return the body of a dead employee back to her family in snowy Romania gathered 5 awards: Best Film, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (the hilarious Rosina Kambus, for her portrayal of the Israeli consulate to Romania), Best Screenplay (Noah Stollman, who also wrote the script for Paul Schrader’s Adam Resurrected), and Best Sound.  

According to the rules of the Israeli Film Academy, the Best Film winner automatically goes on to represent Israel in the Foreign Language American Oscars. In my humble opinion, this film is far from being a masterpiece, but it has that nice flow that American Academy members just might find endearing. And it has one unforgettable gag in a morgue.

Other notable awards at the ceremony: A Film Unfinished, the stunning documentary about a propaganda film the Nazis shot in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942 has been loosing momentum in the past month, while Precious Life, Shlomi Eldar’s unique account of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict slowly was generating a bit more buzz. The award for Best Documentary eventually made it to Shlomi Eldar’s hands, which is a shame, because as good as Precious Life is, A Film Unfinished is not just a good film — but it’s an important one. Both docs will be aiming to find themselves on the Oscar shortlist for best docu.

The biggest Israeli box office hit in the last 25 years, This is Sodom, received two awards: Best Art Direction and Best Costumes. The other big Israeli hit of the year, The Matchmaker (AKA Once I Was) received two justified awards for Best Actor (Adir Miller) and Best Actress (Maya Dagan).

The half documentary-half fiction Revolution 101 received 2 awards for Best Editing, and for Best Music (Avi Baleli is the leader of the Israeli rock band Tractor’s revenge, and an acclaimed score writer for cinema and TV, including the opening music for In Treatment).

Completing the list of winners are Michael Moshonov (Lebanon), who received the Best Supporting Actor award for his portrayal of an autistic boy in Mabul-Flood, and 70 year old Amnon Solomon, who took with him the only award Dover Kosashvili’s Infiltration received Best Cinematography.

This year, the Israeli film industry didn’t produce any memorable masterpieces such as Waltz with Bashir or Beaufort, but the good sign is there was a wide-range variety of films providing for some hilarious and moving entertainment.
And there’s still a lot to come.