World Narrative Competition: Israel, in Hebrew with subtitles.
The Nora Ephron Prize: Zero Motivation, written and directed by Talya Lavie (Israel). Winner receives $25,000, sponsored by Coach, Inc. The award was given by Delia Ephron, Carol Kane, Natasha Lyonne, and Tanya Wexler along with Stephanie Stahl, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Strategy, Coach Inc.
The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature – Zero Motivation, written and directed by Talya Lavie (Israel). Winner receives $25,000, sponsored by AT&T, and the art award “Central Park, NY” by Tony Bennett. The award was given by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal joined by Esther Lee, SVP Brand Marketing/Advertising, AT&T.
Jury Comments: “The winner of this year’s Founder’s Award follows young women who must find their place and establish their identity in a world normally dominated by men and machismo. They do so with humor, strength and intellect. The filmmaker mirrors these same qualities. We believe a new, powerful, voice has emerged.”
“Zero Motivation” is about the daily occurrences among young and restless, female Israeli soldiers serving their mandatory military sentences on a remote base in the hot Israeli desert. They kill time playing computer games, filing paper, and chasing male soldiers.
The story starts off where one non-military girl dresses up as a soldier and sneaks on to the base to be closer to a boy that she likes. When she finds him kissing another girl, she kills herself.
Meanwhile, a blonde haired soldier, who believes she is now possessed by the dead girls ghost, starts acting like a zombie, and begins to follow around the only female virgin on the kibbutz. The virgin is trying to lose her virginity with a male soldier that is scheduled to leave the next day. The possessed zombie blonde follows the virgin around to make sure she is safe, and makes sure she makes the right decisions.
Very amusing.
Article by Sharon Abella
One World Cinema