Shimon Dotan (; born 23 December 1949) 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 ...

, and producer.

Biography

Early life

Shimon Dotan was born in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

in 1949 and moved to Israel in 1959. He grew up in Moshav Arugot, an agricultural cooperative. He then served five years in the Israeli military as a Navy Seal and went on to get his BFA at Tel Aviv University, where his student films won Israel’s Best Short Film and Best Director Awards twice.

Career

Dotan is the recipient of numerous awards including, the Special Jury Prize for Best World Documentary Feature at

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

('' Hot House''),

Silver Bear for Best Actor The Silver Bear for Best Actor () was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chosen by the International Jury from the films i ...

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

('' Smile of the Lamb''), Best Film Award at

Newport Beach Film Festival The Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) is an annual film festival in Newport Beach, California, typically held in late April. In 2022, it was announced that the festival had permanently changed its date to be held in October, as the festival bega ...

('' You Can Thank Me Later''), two times winner of Israeli Academy Award for Best Film and Best Director ('' Repeat Dive'', ''Smile Of The Lamb'') and others. Dotan’s feature films have received both critical acclaim and commercial success. His debut writing/directing/producing effort, ''Repeat Dive'' (1982), which chronicles Dotan’s own experiences as a member of Israel’s elite Navy Commando unit, won three Israeli Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and was selected for the official competition at the Berlin and Chicago Film Festivals. He followed that effort with two quasi-documentaries, ''Souvenirs from Tel Aviv'' and ''Souvenirs from Hebron'' (1982). His 1986 feature film ''The Smile of the Lamb'', written and directed by Dotan and co-produced with Yonatan Aroch, won numerous awards including the Silver Bear for Best Actor at

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and six Israeli Academy Awards, including those for Best Director and Best Picture. In 1991, Dotan wrote and directed '' The Finest Hour'' starring Rob Lowe, Tracy Griffith and Gale Hanson. After moving to Montreal, Canada in 1991 Dotan co-founded Cinequest Films Inc. together with partner Netaya Anbar. In 1994 Dotan directed and produced ''

Warriors A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been p ...

'', starring Macha Grenon, Gary Busey and Michael Pare. In 1996 Dotan directed and produced ', starring Peter Greene, Macha Grenon and Michael Pare. The critically acclaimed ''You Can Thank Me Later'' (1999), was produced together with Anbar and directed by Dotan in 1999 and starred Ellen Burstyn, Genevieve Boujold, Amanda Plummer and Mary McDonnell. It was awarded Best Film at Newport Beach Film Festival, selected for the closing night at the

Palm Springs Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 1989 ...

and had its opening gala at the

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (), commonly abbreviated MWFF in English or FFM in French, was an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1977 to 2019.Romano Orzari Romano Orzari (born 12 December 1964) is a Canadian film and television actor. He played Hoagy Carmichael in '' Bix'' (1991), Pvt. Jimmy Rassi in ''Silent Night "Silent Night" () is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xa ...

and Rutger Hauer. In 2001 Dotan produced '' Hidden Agenda'' with

Dolph Lundgren Hans "Dolph" Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957) is a Swedish actor, filmmaker, and martial artist. Lundgren made his acting debut in 1985 with a cameo in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film ''A View to a Kill''. Also that year, he h ...

and Maxim Roy. In 2003 Dotan co-wrote the script for '' Watching TV with the Red Chinese'' together with Netaya Anbar and in 2005 he wrote ''Frenzy'' based on a novel by

David Grossman David Grossman (; born January 25, 1954) is an Israeli author. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages. In 2018, he was awarded the Israel Prize for literature. Biography David Grossman was born in Jerusalem. He is the eld ...

. In 2006 Dotan wrote, directed and co-produced the documentary/feature '' Hot House''. It won the Special Jury Award for Best World Documentary at Sundance. In 2007 Dotan produced and co-directed the Canadian-Chinese coproduction ''

Diamond Dogs ''Diamond Dogs'' is the eighth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 24 May 1974 through RCA Records. Bowie produced the album and recorded it in early 1974 in London and the Netherlands, following the disbanding o ...

'' with Dolph Lundgren. In 2012, together with Netaya Anbar, Dotan wrote, directed, and produced ''Watching TV with the Red Chinese'' based on the novel by Luke Whisnant. In 2016 Dotan wrote and directed ''

The Settlers ''The Settlers'' () is a City-building game, city-building and real-time strategy video game series created by Volker Wertich in 1993. The The Settlers (1993 video game), original game was released on the Amiga, with subsequent games released p ...

'', produced by , Jonatan Aroch, Paul Cadieux, and Dotan. Dotan has taught political cinema at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

since 2003. He also teaches at

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

in New York City. He has previously taught at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

and at

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

in Montreal. He is a Fellow of the

New York Institute for the Humanities New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

Selected filmography

* '' Repeat Dive'' ('), Writer/Director/Producer (1982) * '' The Smile of the Lamb'', Writer/Director/Producer (1986) * '' The Finest Hour'', Writer/Director (1992) * ''

'', Director/Producer (1994) * ', Director/Producer (1996) * '' You Can Thank Me Later'', Director/Producer (1998) * '' Hot House'', Writer/Director/Producer (2006) * ''

'', Co-director/Producer (2007) * '' Watching TV with the Red Chinese'', Writer/Director/Producer (2012) * ''

'', Writer/Director/Producer (2016)

Awards and honors

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...

, Official Selection, ''

'' (2016) *

, Official Selection, ''The Settlers'' (2016) *

DocAviv Docaviv (), also known as the Tel Aviv International Documentary Film Festival, is the only film festival in Israel dedicated to documentary films, and the largest film festival in Tel Aviv. It is run by a non-profit organisation of the same name ...

Film Festival, Special Mention, ''The Settlers'' (2016) *

Sheffield International Documentary Festival Sheffield DocFest (formerly styled Sheffield Doc/Fest; abbr.Sheffield International Documentary Festival or SIDF) is an international documentary festival and industry marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England. The festival revolves aro ...

, Special Mention, ''The Settlers'' (2016) * Cullman Fellowship Award for Scholars and Writers at the NY Public Library (2013) *

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

Award (2012) * President of the Jury at the

Jerusalem Film Festival The Jerusalem Film Festival (, ) is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, It was established in 1984 by the Director of the Jerusalem Cinematheque and Israeli Film Archive, Lia van Leer, Lia Van Leer, and has since become th ...

(2010) * President of the Jury at the (2009) * Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize for '' Hot House'' (2007) * Lincoln Center, Israeli Cinema Retrospective, '' The Smile of the Lamb'' & '' Repeat Dive'', (2000) *

, Best Feature Film, ''You Can Thank Me Later'' (1999) *

, Closing Night, ''You Can Thank Me Later'' (1999) *

, Silver Bear, ''The Smile of the Lamb'' (1986) * Six Israeli Academy Awards (including Best Film, Best Director), ''The Smile of the Lamb'' (1986) * Berlin Film Festival, Official Selection, ''Repeat Dive'' (1982) *

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

, Official Selection, ''Repeat Dive'' (1982) * Three Israeli Academy Awards (including Best Film, Best Director), ''Repeat Dive'' (1982)

References

External links

*
New York Times article about The Settlers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dotan, Shimon 1949 births Living people Israeli film directors Israeli male screenwriters Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent Romanian emigrants to Israel New York University faculty