David Gurfinkel is one of Israel’s most prolific cinematographers. Gurfinkel spend his military service working in the IDF Spokesperson Unit’s film division and later, found work as a newsreel director of photography with Geva Films. In 1965, he shot his first-ever feature film, Uri Zohar’s avantgarde cult classic Hole in the Moon. The feature kicked off Gurfinkel lengthy film career, not to mention his close-knit collaboration with Zohar, establishing and defining the language and aesthetic of Israeli arthouse films, famously dubbed ‘The New Sensibility’ – a stylistic marriage of his European influences and the country’s harsh natural light.
On top of his work as a cinematographer, Gurfinkel also has a number of screenwriting credits to his name: Three Days and a Child (Uri Zohar, 1967) which he co-wrote with Zohar, Dahn Ben-Amotz, and Amatsia Hiuni, and Hershele (Joel Silberg, 1977) co-written with Silberg, the director.
Highlights of his cinematography credits include Three Days and a Child (Uri Zohar, 1967), Every Bastard a King (Uri Zohar, 1968), Siege (Gilberto Tofano, 1969), Katz and Carrasso (Menahem Golan, 1971), The Highway Queen (Menahem Golan, 1971), Fifty-Fifty (Boaz Davidson, 1971), The Policeman (Ephraim Kishon, 1971), Kazablan (Menahem Golan, 1973), Big Eyes (Uri Zohar, 1974), Snooker (Boaz Davidson, 1975), Aunt Clara (Avraham Heffner, 1977), Save the Lifeguard (Uri Zohar, 1977), Enter the Ninja (Menahem Golan, 1981), Eastern Wind (Daniel Waschsmann, 1982), The Naked Face (Bryan Forbes, 1984), Rage and Glory (Avi Nesher, 1984), The Lover (Michal Bat-Adam 1986), The Delta Force (Menahem Golan, 1986), Over the Top (Menahem Golan, 1987), Aviya’s Summer (aka The Summer of Aviya) (Eli Cohen, 1988), Appointment with Death (Michael Winner, 1988), Cable (aka ‘Kvalim’) (Tzvi Shissel, 1992), Turn Left at the End of the World (Avi Nesher, 2004), Schwartz Dynasty (Shmuel Hasfari & Amir Hasfari, 2005), A Matter of Size (Sharon Maymon & Erez Tadmor, 2009), The Loners (Renen Schorr, 2009), and Revolution 101 (Doron Tsabari, 2010).
Throughout his career, Gurfinkel earned four Ophir Awards for his work as a cinematographer on Eli Cohen’s Under the Domim Tree (1994), Sh’chur (Shmuel Hasfari, 1994), Dangerous Acts (Shemi Zarhin, 1998), and Nina’s Tragedies (2003).
In 2015, Gurfinkel was named as the recipient of that year’s Israel Prize in the category of Film.
Two of three sons, Yoav and Jonathan, went on to become film directors.
