Naomi Levari

Naomi Levari (; born October 10, 1978) is a German-American-Israeli film producer, development executive, and script consultant. She is the co-founder of Black Sheep Film Productions (Tel Aviv, 2010) and Electric Sheep GmbH (Berlin, 2018). Her work has premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and Series Mania, accumulating over 100 international awards, including two Israeli Television Academy Awards for Best Series.

Early life and education

Levari was born in 1978 in the United States. From 1992 to 1996, she attended the Charles E. Smith Arts High School in Jerusalem, majoring in film. During those years, she was an active community organizer and youth group leader in Jerusalem.

In 1996, Levari refused compulsory military service in Israel as a conscientious objector.

In 2004, Levari graduated from the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem with highest honors (summa cum laude). During her studies, she co-produced Oneg Shabat (dir. Michal Brezis and Oded Ben-Nun), a short film that went on to win multiple awards, and produced the documentary Blue White Collar Criminal (dir. Noam Kaplan), the first student film to be released commercially in the school's history.

Her graduation film, Draft, which she wrote and directed, screened at more than forty international film festivals, won four awards and two special mentions, and was sold to broadcasters worldwide. The film was selected as one of the best films in Sam Spiegel's history by an international jury of festival programmers, and has been included in academic curricula. Following its success, Levari was invited to lead a master class at Aarhus University in Denmark, titled Big Drama in Short Films.

During her studies, Levari received multiple scholarships and prizes, including the America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarship, the Jerusalem Economic Corporation Prize, the Mayor's Prize, and production grants from the Television Authority and the Yehoshua Rabinowitz Foundation.

In 2017, Levari relocated to Berlin, Germany.

Career

Producing In 2005, Levari began her professional collaboration with producer Saar Yogev during the Jerusalem Film Festival. In 2008, the two began producing together, and in 2010 they co-founded Black Sheep Film Productions in Tel Aviv. The company has produced films and television series that have premiered at international festivals including Cannes, the Berlin International Film Festival, the Venice International Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, and Series Mania. In 2011, Levari participated in the International Film Festival Rotterdam's Rotterdam Lab, a workshop for emerging producers. In 2013, she was invited by the French CNC to participate in a producers' program connected with the Cannes Film Festival. In 2016, she and director Yaron Shani presented the Love Trilogy as part of an international producers' program. Since 2021, she has served as an editorial consultant for First Cut Lab, facilitating and moderating the artistic content of its working sessions. Her development work has also included Full Circle Lab Philippines, Canal+ Poland, Berlinale Script Station, and programs developed by Tatino Films with Netflix Grow Creative. At the Łódź Film School, she has conducted screenplay-development workshops. In 2025, she was one of the expert mentors of the Pop Up Series Incubator, an eight-month development program that culminated in an industry showcase at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. In 2026, Levari was part of the team behind the inaugural Book-to-Screen at KVIFF initiative at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The program was launched to strengthen cooperation between the publishing and audiovisual industries and to create a market for screen adaptation rights to literary works from Central and Eastern Europe.

Teaching and industry roles

Levari has lectured and taught at film schools, universities and professional development programs. She was a recurring lecturer at the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School from 2015 to 2021, teaching courses including production for screenwriters and workshops on pitching. She has also delivered guest lectures and master classes at Columbia University, Sapir Academic College, Beit Berl College and Aarhus University.

Activism

Levari has been a vocal advocate for social and political causes throughout her career. In 2013, she ran for the Knesset on the Da'am Workers Party list, headed by Asma Agbarieh-Zahalka, an Israeli-Palestinian socialist party advocating workers' rights and equality, though the party did not cross the electoral threshold.

During the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Levari released a video message titled A Message to Gaza, which gained wide attention on social media. Levari refused to give interviews about the matter.

Filmography This film reached cult status in Israel, and opened the DocAviv Documentary Film Festival in Tel Aviv. It was nominated for an Ophir Award for Best Documentary.2011Ha-Chaim Ze Lo Ha-Kol (Life Isn't Everything)ProducerTelevision Series; 21 episodes, season 92011Ameer Got His GunExecutive producer, screenwriter, directorDocumentary film