Avi Nesher

Early life Avi Nesher was born in Ramat Gan, Israel and raised on the Upper West Side in Manhattan in New York City. In 1965, he moved with his family to the United States. He graduated from high school at sixteen and studied international relations at Columbia University. In 1971 he returned to Israel. Nesher enlisted into the IDF elite special forces unit Sayeret Matkal where Yoni Netanyahu was his superior. He served for a year, before being injured. He then studied international relations for two years at Columbia University before returning to the IDF.

In 2016, Nesher wrote, directed and produced the post-war family drama "Past Life", which is set in Israel's revolutionary year of 1977 and is based on true events (inspired by Dr. Baruch Milch's autobiography "Can Heaven Be Void?")."Past Life" was an official selection at Toronto International Film Festival 16' ("Profoundly moving, suspenseful, gripping character-driven drama with hauntingly beautiful music" - Variety), and also the closing night at the Haifa International Film Festival ("An explosion of sheer emotional and cinematic virtuosity" – Cinemascope). In its long theatrical run in Israel, "Past Life" was a resounding success, receiving excellent reviews and close to 300,000 spectators. It was nominated for 5 Ophir Awards (the Israeli Oscars) including Best Actress and Original Score. Internationally the film was bought and distributed by the Samuel Goldwyn Company and by MGM/Orion.

In 2018 Nesher released The Other Story. The film premiered at the 2018 Toronto Film Festival "The Other Story", which is based on a true story and was written by Nesher and his co-writer and known psychologist Noam Shpancer, was the most viewed Israeli film of 2018 and granted Nesher the Best Director Award from The Israeli Film Critic Association.

In 2018 Avi Nesher won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Israeli Ministry of Culture and Sports.

In 2021, his film "Image of Victory" was nominated for 15 Israel Academy Awards and won in the best cinematography, best costume design, and best makeup categories. Avi himself was awarded the Academy of Israeli Motion Pictures Excellence Award.

On 17 December 2021, Israel's National theater awarded Nesher its prestigious "Cultural Icon" Award.

In 2022, Nesher wrote and directed "The Monkey House", which was released in September 2023. In July 2023, the Israeli Academy of Film and Television awarded "The Monkey House" 11 nominations for the Ophir Award (including Ophir Award for Best Director).

Personal life In 2018, Nesher's seventeen-year-old son, Ari, was killed in a hit and run by driver, Manamto Asefa in Tel Aviv.

Awards and recognition In 2008, Nesher received the Extraordinary Achievement Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival. In 2009 he won the Cinematic Excellence Award at the Haifa Film Festival and was accorded a star on "The Avenue of the Stars" - an honor rarely bestowed on directors. In 2010 Nesher received the Landau Award for Excellence in the Arts. In 2017, Nesher received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Israeli National Association of Theatres Owners, their highest award for cinematic box-office success.

Director award, Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival 1992 Director award, Taromina Film Festival 2004 Spirit of Freedom award, Jerusalem Film Festival 2005 Best screenplay, Jackson Hole Film Festival 2007 Lifetime achievement award, Israeli Film Festival 2007 Extraordinary Achievement Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival 2008 Lifetime achievement award, Washington Jewish Film Festival 2010 Landau award for cinematic excellence 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award for Box Office Success 2017 Best Director Award, Israeli Film Critic Association 2018 Torchbearer in the national Israeli Independence Day ceremony, 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award, Israeli Ministry of Culture and Sport 2018 Excellence Award, Academy of Israeli Motion Pictures, 2021

Filmography Year Title Language Notes 1979 HaLahaka Hebrew Director, Producer 1979 Dizengoff 99 Hebrew Director 1980 Hebrew Director 1982 She English Director 1985 (Breaking) Hebrew Producer 1985 Rage and Glory Hebrew Director, Writer, Producer 1991 Time Bomb English Director, Writer 1993 Doppelganger English Director 1996 Savage English Director 1998 Taxman English Director, Writer, Producer 2000 Raw Nerve English Director 2002 Ritual English Director 2004 Sof Haolam Smola (Turn Left at the End of the World) Hebrew Director, Writer, Producer 2005 Oriental Hebrew Documentary 2007 Hasodot Hebrew Director, Writer 2010 Pa'am Haitty (The Matchmaker) Hebrew Director, Writer, Producer 2013 The Wonders Hebrew Director 2016 Past Life Hebrew Director, Writer, Producer 2018 The Other Story Hebrew Director, Writer 2021 Image of Victory Hebrew Director 2023 Gan Kofim (The Monkey House) Hebrew Director, Writer 2026 Our Loves Hebrew Director, writer