Français    Updates:     Shalom, This year marks the third in a row that an Israeli film has been nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. This year’s nominee, Ajami, follows Waltz with Bashir (2008) and Beaufort (2007). How many countries can claim this incredible achievement? As of this writing, the Oscar winners have not been announced. No matter the outcome, 2009 was an outstanding year for Israeli cinema. Most notably, the “Golden Lion” went to Lebanon at last year’s Venice Film Festival, likely the most prestigious award ever won by an Israeli film. This stellar year leads us to the sixth annual Montreal Israel Film Festival. This year’s program presents the excellence, diversity and innovation of recent Israeli cinema. Significantly, nearly all the Festival’s films were made by young directors, with the majority being directorial debuts. From these delicious first fruits, we are assured that Israeli cinema will continue to provide a rich bounty for years to come. We hope you will join us in this celebration of Israel filmmaking. See you at the Festival. Eran Bester.