Ari Folman (; born December 17, 1962) is an Israeli

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

, and film-score composer. He directed the Oscar-nominated animated

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

'' Waltz with Bashir'' (2008) and the live-action/animated film '' The Congress''. He is a member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

Early life and education

Ari Folman was born in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

in 1962. His parents were Polish-Jewish

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universall ...

Career

Folman served in the IDF during the 1982 Lebanon war, and was in the area of the Sabra and Shatila massacre. In 2006, Folman was head writer of the Hot 3 famous

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

'' BeTipul''. Ari Folman's memories of the aftermath of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre, which took place when he was a 19-year-old soldier, served as the basis for his movie '' Waltz with Bashir''. The film follows his attempt to regain his memories of the war through therapy, as well as conversations with old friends and other Israelis who were present in Beirut around the time of the massacre. In 2018, Folman adapted Holocaust victim

Anne Frank Annelies Marie Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – February or March 1945)Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new li ...

diary A diary is a written or audiovisual memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digita ...

into a graphic novel illustrated by David Polonsky. In 2021, Folman directed '' Where Is Anne Frank'', an animated drama film based on Frank's life, with the animation styled after Polonsky's illustrations for Folman's 2018 graphic novel adaptation of ''The Diary of a Young Girl''.

Personal life

Folman's wife, Anat Asulin, is also a film director. As of 2008, they lived in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

Awards and recognition

* Ophir Award - Best Director - ''Saint Clara'' (1996) *

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (, KVIFF) is an annual film festival held in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Eur ...

- Special Prize of the Jury - ''Saint Clara'' (1996) * Award of the Israeli Television Academy - Best Script for a Drama Series (along with 5 other writers) - '' Betipul'' (2006) * Recipient of the Lynn and Jules Kroll Fund for Jewish Documentary Film - ''Waltz with Bashir'' (2007) * Ophir Award - Best Director - ''Waltz with Bashir'' (2008) * Ophir Award - Best Screenplay - ''Waltz with Bashir'' (2008) * Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film - ''Waltz with Bashir'' (2008) * Directors Guild of America Awards - Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary - ''Waltz with Bashir'' (2008) *

Writers Guild of America Awards The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility The ...

- Best Documentary Screenplay - ''Waltz with Bashir'' (2008) * Animafest Zagreb - Grand Prix for feature film - ''Waltz with Bashir'' (2009) * Tokyo Anime Award Festival - Animation of the Year Featured Film Category - ''The Congress'' (2014)

Filmography

* ''Sha'anan Si'' (1991, short documentary, with Ori Sivan) * '' Saint Clara'' (1996, with Ori Sivan) * '' Made in Israel'' (2001) * '' Waltz with Bashir'' (2008) * '' The Congress'' (2013) * '' Where Is Anne Frank'' (2021)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Folman, Ari 1962 births Israeli film directors Israeli male screenwriters Israeli film score composers Living people Mass media people from Haifa Tel Aviv University alumni Hebrew Reali School alumni Israeli animators Jewish Israeli artists Television composers Writers Guild of America Award winners European Film Awards winners (people) Directors Guild of America Award winners Ophir Award winners Male television composers Israeli male film score composers Postmodernist filmmakers