Eli Cohen is a director, screenwriter, and film actor. Cohen started out acting in theatre. Alongside his stage work, he was already adding a string of film roles to his credits including He Walked Though the Fields (1967) and Prisoners of Freedom (1968). In 1986, Cohen directed his debut feature film, Ricochets, commissioned and produced by the IDF Spokesperson’s Film Unit, and originally intended to serve as no more than an intra-military PR film. The film was a huge commercial success. In a time when local moviegoers were steering well clear of Israeli films, nearly one million people saw it in cinemas. Ricochets was also featured as part of the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section whilst leading man, Alon Aboutboul took home the Best Actor award at the Jerusalem Film Festival. Cohen also penned the lyrics to the film’s theme. The song was a hit and over the years, became an iconic tune that captured and embodied the spirit of the First Lebanon War.
The screenplay for his 1988 film, The Summer of Aviya, Cohen co-wrote with Gila Almagor and Haim Bouzaglo. The film, based on Almagor’s own autobiographical book of the same title, is an exploration of her childhood experiences as a young girl grappling with her mentally frail, Holocaust survivor mother. The film was a massive success. It was shown in festivals worldwide, winning multiple awards including the Silver Berlin Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, and Best Foreign Film at the San Remo Festival. The 1994 sequel, Under the Domim Tree (1994) was also well-received, showing at a number of international festivals including the Cannes Film Festival. The film won three Israeli Film Academy awards, the Best Film award at the Jerusalem Film Festival, and the Artistic Excellence Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in the US.

Feature

Rutenberg

Directed by Eli Cohen, 2000
איש החשמל
New Rental

92 min.

Feature

Under the Domim Tree

Directed by Eli Cohen, 1995
עץ הדומים תפוס
Rental

102 min.

Feature

The Man who Loves Hebrew

Directed by Eli Cohen, 1991
בורא המילים: אליעזר בן־יהודה
English subs.

92 min.

Feature

Aviya’s Summer

Directed by Eli Cohen, 1988
הקיץ של אביה
Rental English subs.

96 min.

Feature

Ricochets

Directed by Eli Cohen, 1986
שתי אצבעות מצידון
Rental

88 min.

Documentary

The Unfinished Sinfonietta

Directed by Eli Cohen, 2004
הסינפונייטה הבלתי גמורה

45 min.

Documentary

Rescue the Jews of Ethiopia

Directed by Eli Cohen, 1985
יציאת אתיופיה

39 min.

Documentary

Pictures From Zikhron Yaakov

Directed by Eli Cohen, 1982
תמונות מזכרון יעקב

52 min.

Documentary

High Holy Days in Argentina

Directed by Eli Cohen, 1980
ימים נוראים בארגנטינה

50 min.

Documentary

Three Women - Degania 1980

Directed by Ester Dar, 1980
שלוש נשים - דגניה 1980

28 min.

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