Yoav Shamir ( he, יואב שמיר), is an Israeli documentary filmmaker most noted for the films '' Checkpoint'' and ''

Defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

''.

Personal life

Yoav Shamir was born in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

in 1970. A ninth-generation Israeli from Tel Aviv, he is the son of two elementary school teachers. He graduated from

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

with a BA in History and philosophy. He obtained a MFA in cinema with honours. He served as an Israeli soldier in the

Israeli-occupied territories Israeli-occupied territories are the lands that were captured and occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. While the term is currently applied to the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, it has also been used to refer to ...

Career

Shamir's films have received awards from independent film festivals including Best Feature Documentary at the

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam. Over a period of twelve days, it has screened more than 300 films and sold more than 250,000 ti ...

, Best International Documentary at the

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...

, and the Golden Gate Award for Documentary Feature at the

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in i ...

. Shamir's documentaries made him a focal point of criticism and garnered accusations of

anti-semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. After the success of '' Checkpoint'', Shamir was referred to as the "Israeli Mel Gibson" by American journalists and accused of antisemitism, fact that he described as a "''total nonsense and a very offensive term for me''". This inspired him to do a project about contemporary antisemitism, the film ''

''. His latest film, '' 10%: What Makes a Hero?'', is focused on the premise that a small minority of people, less than 10%, will always fight for what is just regardless of circumstance.
2011, retrieved 09-11-2010

Filmography

* '' Machssomim'' (International title: '' Checkpoint'') (2003) * ''

5 Days 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

'' (2005) * '' Flipping Out'' (2008) * '' Hashmatsa'' (International title: ''

'') (2009) * '' Full Gas'' (2010) * '' 10%: What Makes a Hero?'' (2013) * '' The Prophet and the Space Aliens'' (2020)

References

External links

*
Yoav Shamir Films website
1970 births Israeli documentary filmmakers Living people People from Tel Aviv Tel Aviv University alumni {{film-bio-stub