Yitzhak (Mimish) Herbst (1916-1978)
Yitzhak (Mimish) Herbst was a Slovakian-born Israeli cinematographer. During World War II, he became involved in Hungary’s Zionist Youth underground movement. Herbst was subsequently arrested and tortured, and following his release, he immediately resumed his underground activities. In 1949, he immigrated to Israel where he embarked on a cinematography career. Herbst shot scores of documentaries and foreign policy PR films (aka ‘hasbara’), including some of Israeli cinema’s greatest 1960s motion pictures.
In 1967, he teamed up with Ya’ackov Hame’iri to direct the critically acclaimed documentary, Six Days Forever. Highlights of his cinematography credits include Brennender Sand (Raphael Nussbaum, 1960), Eight in the Footsteps of One (Menahem Golan, 1964), Trunk to Cairo (Menahem Golan, 1965), and Seduced in Sodom (aka Fortuna) (Menahem Golan, 1966).