The new film by Oscar-winning Israeli director Guy Nativ, “Golda”, will be premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival. This was announced last night (Friday) by the organizers of the festival. The film starring the Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren, will be shown as part of the “Berlinna Special” which is intended for films that do not participate in the official competition of the festival.
The plot of the film, which was mostly filmed in London last winter, follows the former prime minister during the Yom Kippur War in October 1973. Besides Mirren, the film stars the American actor Liev Schreiber (“Ray Donovan”) in the role of Henry Kissinger, the US Secretary of State during the war, Lior Ashkenazi in the role of Chief of Staff David Elazar, Rami Hoiberger in the role of Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan, Dvir Bendak in the role of the head of the National Security Agency Eli Zaira and Rotam Kenan in the role of Mossad head Zvi Zamir.
Last year Miren faced criticism of her casting for the role, voiced by the British actress Maureen Lipman – because she is not Jewish. In an interview with the “Daily Mail” website, Mirren replied that the legitimate discussion raises other questions. “If a non-Jew can’t play a Jew, can’t a Jew play a non-Jew? If you’re an actor from the LGBT community, don’t you deserve to play heterosexual characters? Is this really the direction we want to go in?” Miren said.
The Berlin International Film Festival will be held for the 73rd year between February 16 and 26. Last month, the organizers announced that the American actress Kristen Stewart will head the jury this time.