Tel Aviv on Fire chosen to represent Luxembourg at the 2020 Oscars
The National Selection Committee for the Oscars has chosen the film Tel Aviv on Fireproduced by the Luxembourg company Samsa Filmto represent the Grand Duchy at the 92e edition of Academy Awards in the "International Feature Film" category.
The comedy Tel Aviv on Fire is a majority Luxembourg co-production supported by the Film Fund Luxembourg. The film was shot at over 70% in Luxembourg, including at the "Filmland" studio in Kehlen, Saeul and Dommeldange, and features a large number of Luxembourg technicians, including Solveig Harper, production manager, André Dziezuk, music, Christina Schaffer, chief set designer, Magdalena Labuz, chief costume designer, Jasmine Schmit, chief make-up artist, Pia Dumont, sound editor, Laurence Rexter-Baker, 1re assistant director, Patricia Peribañez, set photographer, Tiago Hof, stage manager, Eric Nicolas Smit, special effects, Marie Janezic, assistant set designer, Manu Demoulling, prop designer, Ulrika Debatisse, location manager.
Tel Aviv on FireSameh Zoabi's second feature film was produced by Samsa Film (Bernard Michaux) and TS Productions (France) in co-production with Lama Films (Israel) and Artémis Productions (Belgium).
Set during the Six-Day War in 1967, Tel Aviv on Fire follows Salam, a 30-year-old Palestinian living in Jerusalem, who works as a trainee on the set of the hit Arabic series "Tel Aviv on Fire". Every morning, he crosses the same roadblock on his way to work in Ramallah. One day, Salam is interrogated by Assi, an Israeli officer and fan of the series. To get out of it, he pretends to be the scriptwriter. Caught in his own trap, Assi forces Salam to write a new script.
The lead roles were given to Kais Nashif, Lubna Azabal, Yaniv Biton, Nadim Sawalha, Maisa Abd Elhadi and Wafaa Abo Zarifa.
Tel Aviv on Fire celebrated its world premiere in September 2018 as an official selection at the 75e Venice Film Festival, where the film won the Orizzonti Award for Best Actor for Kais Nashif. The film also won a score of awards, including the Jam Prize for Best Music at the Cinemed Festival in Montpellier for composer André Dziezuk.
The Luxembourg preview took place in March 2019 as part of the 9e Luxembourg City Film Festival. The film was released in Luxembourg cinemas in April 2019 and is distributed by Cohen Media Group in the United States, where it has been screening since 2 August.
The nominations for the International Feature Film category of the Academy Awards will be announced in January 2020. The 92e Oscars ceremony will take place on 9 February 2020.
The National Selection Committee for the Oscars is made up of 8 people representing the audiovisual sector:
- Yves Steichen, Centre national de l'audiovisuel (CNA)
- Vesna Andonovic, journalist
- Aude-Laurence Clermont Biver, Actors.lu
- Nicole Dahlen, Cinémathèque de la Ville de Luxembourg
- Guy Daleiden, Fonds national de soutien à la production audiovisuelle (Film FUnd Luxembourg)
- Alexandre Dumreicher-Ivanceanu, Union luxembourgeoise de la production audiovisuelle (ULPA)
- Jim Probyn, Luxembourg Association of Audiovisual Technicians (ALTA)
- Christophe Wagner, Directors and Scriptwriters Association (LARS)
