El Al To Sponsor Israli Film Festival In NY.

Under the auspices of El Al, Israel’s official airline, the Government of Israel and many friends of Israel in America , the 25th IsraFest Anniversary held in New York City was a resounding success.

The goal of IsraFest is to shed light upon and heighten awareness of the film and television industry of Israel through the presentation of films, documentaries, dramas and student film creations highlighting life and culture in Israel.

IsraFest, established in 1982, is an outgrowth of the dreams of its founder, Meir Fenigstein who came to America in the early 1980s to study jazz at Boston College of Music.You can find a quick rundown here In his early days, Fenigstein had performed as a drummer with an Israeli rock band.

Box office receipts for this year’s festival were in excess of 1,000,000. In addition to this achievement, the film ‘The Matchmaker’ won an award carrying a purse of 60,000 which will be used for film production in Israel and to provide scholarships for film school education in Israel.

This year, the IsraFest Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to American-born Stanley Donen who was touted by Fenigstein for his efforts to enhance the Israeli film industry in the United States and around the globe.