Nissim (‘Nicho’) Leon (1931-2000) was a cinematographer and producer. Bulgarian-born Leon and his family moved to Palestine when he was seven. As a young soldier in the IDF, Leon served with the ‘Gadna’ military prep unit’s film division. Professionally, he took his first steps in the industry at Geva Films where he found work as director of photography, shooting newsreels, documentaries, and adverts. In the early sixties, he teamed up with Yair Pradelsky and Yisrael Ringel and started Roll Films, a production company that helmed many features well into the early noughties when it finally called it a day.
Leon became Roll Films’ inhouse cinematographer. Some of his most notable DP work included the films Kuni Leml in Tel Aviv (Joel Silberg, 1976), 5 and 5 (Shmuel Imberman, 1980), and I Don’t Give a Damn (Shmuel Imberman, 1987). In TV, he also had an extensive list of series credits to his name, including fan favourite drama classic Hedva and Shlomik (‘Hedva ve’Shlomik’) (Shmuel Imberman, 1971).
Highlights of his other DP credits include Tel Aviv Taxi (co-shot with Haim Schreiber; Larry Frisch, 1956), I Like Mike (Peter Frye, 1960), What a Gang (Zeev Havatzelet, 1963), A Pound a Piece (Yoram Gross, 1963), El Dorado (Menahem Golan, 1963), Dreamboat (Israel Wiesler [aka ‘Poochoo’] and Amatsia Hiuni, 1964), 999 Aliza: The Policeman (Menahem Golan, 1967), Theatre in Israel (David Perlov, 1967), Two Heartbeats (Shmuel Imberman, 1972), Millionaire in Trouble (Joel Silberg, 1978), Kuni Lemel in Cairo (Joel Silberg, 1983), A Married Couple (co-shot with Ya’akov Eisenman; Isaac Zepel Yeshurun, 1983), Tel Aviv-Los Angeles (Shmuel Imberman, 1988), and The Quarry (Ron Ninio, 1990).

Feature

The Quarry

Directed by Roni Ninio, 1990
המחצבה
Rental

85 min.

Feature

I Don’t Give a Damn

Directed by Shmuel Imberman, 1987
לא שם זין
Rental

92 min.

Feature

Kuni Lemel in Cairo

Directed by Joel Silberg, 1983
קוני למל בקהיר
Rental

86 min.

Feature

A Married Couple

Directed by Isaac Zepel Yeshurun, 1983
זוג נשוי
Rental

90 min.

Feature

Growing Pains

Directed by Zeev Revach, 1980
פצעי בגרות 80
Rental

83 min.

Feature

Two Heartbeats

Directed by Shmuel Imberman, 1972
שתי דפיקות לב
Rental

89 min.

Feature

999 Aliza: The Policeman

Directed by Menahem Golan, 1967
999... עליזה מזרחי
Rental

103 min.

Feature

Sallah Shabati

Directed by Ephraim Kishon, 1964
סאלח שבתי
Rental English subs.

111 min.

Feature

Eldorado

Directed by Menahem Golan, 1963
אלדורדו
Rental English subs.

99 min.

Feature

What a Gang!

Directed by Zeev Havatzelet, 1963
חבורה שכזאת
Rental English subs.

88 min.