Waltz With Bashir
In recent years Israel has become a real force to be reckoned with in the world of cinema with movies such as Waltz with Bashir and The Band's Visit.
They are quickly of gaining a reputation as a film industry that is unafraid to tackle major issues with many of their movies looking at Israeli themes and social development.
The likes of Waltz with Bashir tackled director Ari Folman's lost memories from the 1982 Lebanon War while Amazing Grace looked at AIDS patients. And it's movies like this that has seen them feature heavily at the film festivals as well as making the rest of the world sit up and take note.
It was the 1950's where developments in the Israeli film industry really began to be made as studios such as Geva movies and Israel's filming studios were established.
And throughout the decade they struggled to get up and running as it struggled to find it's own identity.
The introduction to tax refunds on cinema tickets saw Israeli cinema grow in popularity and filmmakers such as Menahem Golan and Ephraim Kishon began to make a name for themselves.
Israeli movies began tackling social issues such as early as the sixties looking at the misunderstanding between Jews that came from Europe and those that came from the Middle East, paving the way for the movies that we see from this country today.
They also began producing more mainstream movies and the commercial movies sat well against the more heavy topics that were explored.
Sallah brought Oscar recognition for the country as it was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in 1964.
The seventies brought more Oscar nominations with The Policeman in 1971, I Love You Rosa in 1972 and The House on Chelouche Street in 1973 to really put Israeli cinema on the world stage.
However this good fortune didn't last long as the eighties saw a real dip in audiences going to see Israeli movies and that resulted in the government cutting the budget of the film industry.
The nineties saw a resurgence with films such as Amazing Grace, Zohar and Over the Ocean and today Israel is once again a highly respected film industry.
They have enjoyed success in recent months with the likes of Waltz with Bashir, which was a major critical success and secured yet another Best Foreign Language Film nomination for the country. Israel has been nominated for this award more than any other country in the Middle East.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw