“I have wanted to make this documentary for a long time and it is finally happening. These are the people that I am fortunate to have working with me to bring this journey to the screen.” – Linor
The Filmmakers:
Cecilia Peck – Director/Producer
Cecilia Peck most recently directed and produced, with Barbara Kopple, the feature-length documentary “Shut Up & Sing”, which chronicles the political backlash against and artistic triumph of the Dixie Chicks following their criticism of President Bush just prior to the invasion of Iraq. The film, shortlisted for the 2007 Academy Awards, was awarded Best Documentary by the Boston Society of Film Critics and the San Diego Film Critics. It won Best Documentary at the Sydney, Aspen, and Woodstock Film Festivals, and Jury Prize at the Toronto and the Chicago Film Festivals. It received the Courage in Film Award from the Women Film Critics Circle, the Wyatt Award from the Southeastern Film Critics Circle, and was nominated for a Broadcast Critics Award and a National Film Critics Award.
Cecilia produced and directed Justice For All, an examination of the capital punishment system, which was awarded the Silver Gavel Award. She produced A Conversation with Gregory Peck, an intimate portrait of her legendary father, which a Special Selection in the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, as well as a special presentation for TCM and PBS American Masters. She also produced Once Upon A Time in the Hamptons, a four hour documentary series for ABC primetime. She was Associate Producer on Defending Our Daughters, a non-fiction film about women’s human rights for Lifetime Television, which was honored with the Voices of Courage Award by the Women’s Refugee Committee.
As an actress, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance in “The Portrait”. She portrayed a Palestinian school teacher in love with an Israeli soldier in “Torn Apart.” She also studied dance with Martha Graham and performed in “American Document,” the last ballet choreographed by Miss Graham.
She has been contributing editor at Premiere Magazine, French edition, and Moving Pictures Magazine, and has served on the jury at the Aspen Shortsfest and Cognac Film Festival.
A graduate of Princeton University, she lives with her husband and two children in Los Angeles.
To view Cecilia’s Blog please click here
Abot Reif Hameiri, Inc. – Executive Producers
“Abot Reif Hameiri” is an Israeli Production Company owned by Eitan Abot, Motty Reif and Guy Hameiri, that specializes in various fields of operation. The main branch focuses on Television productions for major broadcasters in Israel as well as abroad.
As one of the largest production companies in Israel, Abot Reif Hameiri produces some of the most significant projects on Israeli T.V such as the Israeli version of the famous TV format “Survivor” (first and second seasons, currently in preproduction for the third season), “The Beauty and the Geek”, “The Bachelor” etc. The company also specializes in producing big T.V specials such as the “Miss Israel Beauty Pageant” and the “Israeli Fashion Awards”.
The international branch of the company located in L.A produced the documentary “Life After Tomorrow” and is currently producing a documentary feature featuring 1998 Miss World Linor Abargil.
Inbal B. Lessner – Producer/Editor
Born in Israel, Inbal discovered her passion for filmmaking in the “Alon” high school cinema program, where she edited a short comedy that won first prize in a national student film competition. She went on to produce training films for the Engineering Corps. In 1998, Inbal moved to New York to study film at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. She was the first international student to receive the prestigious W.T.C. Johnson $80,000 Fellowship.
Upon graduating with honors in 2001, Inbal moved to Los Angeles, where in addition to editing documentaries and numerous television shows for major broadcast and cable networks, she directed a TV docudrama, was a second-unit producer on the HBO/ARTE documentary “Watermarks” and was an editing consultant on the Emmy-winner “Be Good, Smile Pretty”. In 2004, she cut Seth Grossman’s “Shock Act”, which won Best Narrative Short Award at the
Tribeca and the Chicago Int’l film festivals. Her collaboration with Mr. Grossman continued on his debut feature “The Elephant King”, starring Ellen Burstyn. Last year Inbal completed editing and co-producing “I Have Never Forgotten You”, about Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal, narrated by Nicole Kidman. The critics noted the film was “intelligently assembled” (Screen Daily) and “expertly put together” (Variety).
Inbal lives in Los Angeles with her husband, concert pianist and composer Daniel Lessner.
Elisa Bonora – Editor
Elisa Bonora was born in Milan, Italy. She studied film editing at the Albedo Film School in Milan, working in 35mm, 16mm, and tape editing formats. After graduating with a master’s degree she began editing films, TV shows, industrial documentaries and advertising in Italy.
In Los Angeles, Elisa started editing TV commercials with Red Car Editorial and then exclusively for acclaimed commercial director Joe Pytka. She then edited prestigious campaigns for Pepsi, Apple, Nike, Sony, Hallmark, and Levi’s. Her strength in dialogue and storytelling and her capacity to create an intense atmosphere and elegant moods won her many advertising awards.
Elisa collaborated with a wide range of highly creative commercial directors, and returned to long format when Oliver Stone asked her to edit Comandante, a feature-length documentary on Fidel Castro. Following the success of Comandante, she collaborated with Pietro Scalia in editing the art film “Ashes and Snow” in 2005, shot and directed by the Canadian artist Gregory Colbert.
Elisa then refurbished a vintage 1968 Airstream RV on a 2 acre property in the Topanga Canyon National Park, California, where she housed her off line editing system, and opened her company “Airstream Film” dedicated to producing and editing documentary films. In 2008 she completed editing and co-producing the feature length documentary Laszlo and Vilmos, No Subtitles Necessary, an official selection at the 2008 Cannes Film festival and a nominee for the 2010 Emmy Awards. Among other documentaries, Elisa edited and wrote “22 Years From Home” by Malachi Leopold, a documentary about one of the Lost Children of Sudan, and “Arsenic” by Robert Kramer on arsenic contaminated waters in Bangladesh.
In 2009 Elisa edited “South of the Border” another feature length documentary directed by Oliver Stone, which premiered at the Venice Film festival September 2009.
Elisa is a versatile freelance editor who moves between long and short format editing. She speaks four languages – English, Italian, French and Spanish. Her editing style encompasses a wide range, due to her twenty years of experience and work in many different formats and media. Among her awards: the Best of 1991 Advertising Age Award, the Advertising Women Achievement Award for Consumer Television in 1996 and 1998, and the Golden Lion at the Cannes International Advertising Festival.
Howard Rosenman – Executive Producer
Zvi Howard Rosenman’s accomplished career as a producer includes over 30 films. He was executive producer on “Common Threads: Tales From The Quilt,” a documentary written and directed by Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein, which won both an Academy Award for Best Documentary and a George Foster Peabody Award for Outstanding Journalism. The team’s next film, The Celluloid Closet, was nominated for an Emmy and won Mr. Rosenman his second Peabody Award. Their third documentary together was the award-winning “Paragraph 175,” about gays in the Holocaust.
