Films by Israeli director win Irish awards
British-based, Israel-born director Dekel Berenson continues to win awards all over the world with two short films, Ashmina and Anna, most recently at the Richard Harris International Film Festival in Limerick, Ireland.
His film, Ashmina won the award for Best National/International Short Film. Set in Nepal, it tells the story of an ambitious young girl who wants to go to school and who takes care of the parachutes for paragliding tourists. Ashmina also won top prizes at the Krakow Film Festival and the Jerusalem Film Festival, which makes it eligible to be considered for a Best Short
Film Oscar nomination. It also recently won an award at a film festival in Iraq.
Svetlana Alekseevna Barandich won Best Actor in a Female Role for her performance in Berenson’s short film, Anna. Anna tells the story of sad “international dating events” in small towns in the Ukraine, where men go to meet Ukrainian women who are desperate to move abroad.
The Richard Harris International
Film Festival is an Irish film festival that celebrates the life and works of Richard Harris and those who follow in his footsteps. Affiliated with IFTA (Irish Film and Television Awards), it also collaborates with the Newport Beach Film Festival.
Harris was one of Britain’s greatest actors, starring in such classics as Camelot, A Man Called Horse and Unforgiven. Younger audiences will know him best as the original Dumbledore in the Harry Potter-movies, a part he played until his death in 2002. His son Jared Harris has recently become an international star, appearing in Chernobyl, The Crown, Mad Men and many other films and series.