Ofir Raul Graizer’s ‘America’ Debuts Trailer Ahead of Karlovy Vary Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)

Shirley Halperin Executive Editor, MusicWhen Israeli singer Mergui took the stage at the Sun Rose in Los Angeles on Thursday night, it was clear the 22-year-old has some big-time backers in his corner. Chief among them: Haim Saban, the veteran businessman, philanthropist, owner of the Power Rangers IP and label head, who launched Saban Music Group in 2019, and was seated front and center (doubly-masked and wearing surgical gloves) to cheer on his latest signing.

Chris Pratt is responding to old rumours about him taking over the iconic role of Indiana Jones.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentYes Studios has unveiled the new trailer for the highly anticipated fourth season of “Fauda,” which will launch July 13 on Yes TV in Israel and will be available on Netflix worldwide.The plot of the new season involves Hezbollah activists from Lebanon and Palestinian militants in the West Bank, and new cast members include Inbar Lavi (“Lucifer”), Amir Boutrous (“The Crown”), Lucy Ayoub, Danny Steg (“Kvodo”) and Loai Nofi (“Hashoter Hatov”).Following the events of the previous season, Doron (Lior Raz) feels guilty over the death of his teammate, and angry and frustrated after his dismissal from the unit. Captain Ayub (Itzik Cohen) tries to bring Doron out of his difficult situation and enlists him for a basic security mission in Brussels.

Shot in lush super 16mm, Jake Paltrow’s “June Zero” takes a unique look back at the execution of Adolf Eichmann after his trial in Israel during the early 1960s. Told in a triptych, the film follows 13-year-old Libyan immigrant David (Noam Ovadia), who claims to have worked on the oven where Eichmann’s corpse was incinerated.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorDark comedy-drama “My Neighbor Adolf,” which will world premiere in Piazza Grande at the Locarno Film Festival, has debuted its trailer. The film stars David Hayman, Udo Kier and Olivia Silhavy, and is directed by Israeli helmer Leon Prudovsky. Beta Cinema is handling world sales.The film, which Prudovsky has described as a cross between “Rear Window” and “Grumpy Old Men,” is set in Colombia in May 1960, just after Israel’s abduction of Adolf Eichmann in Argentina.

Guy Lodge Film Critic“America” is a burdensome title for Israeli director Ofir Raul Graizer’s bright, frangible new film, casting expectations of continent-sized import onto a more individual, interior study of immigrant unrest. Visually iridescent and unexpectedly buoyant even when dealing with matters of plunging personal tragedy, this study of a Chicago-based swimming coach returning to his native Israel after his father’s death — setting off a chain of both present-tense misfortunes and disinterred traumas — braids blunt melodramatic storytelling with a softer, more searching look at conflicted identity, both cultural and sexual.

Jake Paltrow has been spending the Independence Day holiday weekend in the Czech Republic for the world premiere of his Adolf Eichmann drama June Zero, which had a special screening at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Jake Paltrow directs and co-writes June Zero, an unusual account of the death of Adolf Eichmann that’s screening at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Marta Balaga Following the success of Ofir Raul Graizer’s debut feature “The Cakemaker,” acquired by Netflix in the U.S. and already optioned for a Hollywood remake, securing financing for his second film “America” was much easier. But then the pandemic came.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorXavier Henry-Rashid’s sales agency Film Republic has acquired Anna Kazejak’s “Fucking Bornholm,” ahead of its international premiere Saturday in the Crystal Globe competition of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.The Polish comedy drama potrays the generation of today’s 40-year-olds from the perspective of a woman who is in need of profound changes in her life.Two couples with kids go away for a short holiday on the Danish island of Bornholm. Each person has different goals and expectations, and each one of them and their relationships will be tested.

Cineworld and its CEO, Mooky Greidinger, have been found guilty by an Israeli court of infringing merger conditions dating back to 2010 over the supply of films to a movie theater in Tel Aviv. A suit brought by the local competition authority argued that Cineworld’s local distributor, Forum Film, did not provide eight movies over a ten-year period to the Tel Aviv-based Lev Cinema. The court found in favor of the plaintiffs this week with a fine to be set in October.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentAlbert Serra’s “Pacifiction” has lured major distributors around the world following its critically acclaimed world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Berlin-based Films Boutique (“Lunana, a Yak in the Classroom,” “Charlatan”) is representing the film in international markets.“Pacifiction” stars Cesar-winning French actor Benoit Magimel (“Peaceful”) as a calculating French government official working in the French Polynesian island of Tahiti.

As the 56th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) is about to kick off on Friday, there will be plenty to discuss at this year’s event in the picturesque Czech spa town. The prominent Central European festival, which is returning to its usual early July slot after last year’s edition was delayed to August because of the pandemic, will see 33 films from five continents screen across its three sections – the Crystal Globe Competition, the Special Screenings section and its new competition, Proxima, which replaces the former East of the West section.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorTomasz Wasilewski’s “Fools” (Głupcy) has debuted its trailer ahead of its world premiere at Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Proxima Competition. World sales are being handled by Jan Naszewski’s New Europe Film Sales.Wasilewski won the best script award for “United States of Love” at the Berlin Film Festival in 2016, and the East of West Award at Karlovy Vary in 2013 for “Floating Skyscrapers.”“Fools” follows Marlena and Tomasz, hidden away from the world in a small seaside town, who have been in a happy relationship for many years.

Manori Ravindran International EditorKyrre Holm Johannessen, the creator and showrunner of Netflix series “The Girl From Oslo,” has signed with CAA for representation.Originally from Norway, Johannessen began his career in television, writing on the 2016 comedy drama “Meglerne,” about a corrupt real estate broker who suddenly finds himself tutoring a self-absorbed student. He is also a well-known TV presenter, having hosted various programs for Norway’s public broadcaster NRK, including “Karate,” “Kyrre” and “P3morgen.”Johannessen was the head writer for the 2017 satirical comedy series “Folkevalgt” (“Elected”) for Norwegian broadcaster TV2, which follows nine young politicians from different parties fighting for a seat in Norway’s Parliament.

Crystal Globe Competition“America,” Ofir Raul Graizer (Israel, Germany, Czech Republic)“Chemi otakhi” (“A Room Of My Own”), Ioseb “Soso” Bliadze (Georgia, Germany)“Edna provintsialna bolnitsa” (“A Provincial Hospital”), Ilian Metev, Ivan Chertov, Zlatina Teneva (Bulgaria, Germany)“F—ing Bornholm,” Anna Kazejak (Poland)“Hranice lásky” (“Borders of Love”), Tomasz Wiński (Czech Republic, Poland)“Isihia 6-9” (“Silence 6-9”), Christos Passalis (Greece)“The Ordinaries,”  Sophie Linnenbaum (Germany)“Slovo” (“The Word”), Beata Parkanová (Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland)“Tabestan Ba Omid” (“Summer with Hope”), Sadaf Foroughi (Canada)“Tenéis que venir a verla” (“You Have to Come and See It”), Jonás Trueba (Spain)“Tooi tokoro” (“A Far Shore”), Masaaki Kudo (Japan)“Vesper,” Kristina Buožytė, Bruno Samper (Lithuania, France, Belgium)Proxima Competition“A pak přišla láska…” (“And Then There Was Love…”),  Šimon Holý (Czech Republic)“Los Agitadores” (“Horseplay”), Marco Berger (Argentina)“Au grand jour” (“In Broad Daylight”), Emmanuel Tardif (Canada)“Balaye aseman zire ab” (“Like a Fish on the Moon”), Dornaz Hajiha (Iran)“Głupcy” (“Fools”), Tomasz Wasilewski (Poland, Romania, Germany)“Još jedno proleće” (“Another Spring”), Mladen Kovačević (Serbia, Qatar)“La pietà” (“Piety”), Eduardo Casanova (Spain, Argentina)“Ramona,” Andrea Bagney (Spain)“Stric” (“The Uncle”), David Kapac, Andrija Mardešić (Croatia, Serbia)“Tinnitus,”Gregorio Graziosi (Brazil)“Zkouška umění” (“ART talent show”), Tomáš Bojar, Adéla Komrzý (Czech Republic)“Zoo Lock Down,” Andreas Horvath (Austria)Special Screenings“BANGER.” Adam Sedlák (Czech Republic)“June Zero,” Jake Paltrow (USA, Israel)“The Killing of a Journalist,” Matt Sarnecki (Denmark, USA, Czech