Israeli documentarian tackles the question of what makes a hero
After documenting West Bank checkpoints and anti-Semitism, filmmaker Yoav Shamir is now training his camera on the individuals who, despite all odds, help other people in distress. Last week, iconic filmmaker Michael Moore came on board.
By Masha Zur Glozman
Little did director-cinematographer Yoav Shamir dream, when embarking on an Internet campaign to raise funds for his latest movie, that he would hook the biggest fish of all: Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore. Never before has the acclaimed and controversial Moore agreed to participate in producing a movie which he himself is not directing. Last week, he came on board as executive producer of the new documentary "10% - What Makes a Hero," and will no doubt lend it his inimitable, and inestimable added value.
When filmmaker Shamir began working, about two and a half years ago, on the movie - which is about people who "go against the grain" to help others, sometimes risking their own lives - he expected to produce and direct it himself. To that end, he also opened a page about two months ago at Indiegogo, an Internet fund-raising platform. The goal: to come up with $30,000 by January 31. For every donation, whether $10 or $30,000, he offered a "perk" (i.e., autographs, special viewing rights, credit, etc. ). As for Moore, "he said he would donate a dollar for every dollar raised during the campaign," said Shamir, himself a filmmaker who has achieved both local and international renown.
Moore apparently became aquainted with Shamir when the latter's 2009 film about anti-Semitism, "Defamation," won the Stanley Kubrick Award for Bold and Innovative Filmmaking at Moore's Traverse City Film Festival in Michigan. "It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship," said Shamir, according to the online movie site realscreen.com.
Said Moore: "This is an urgent film, someone needed to make it, and I can't think of anyone better than Yoav Shamir. Shamir is that rare documentary filmmaker who is fearless and willing to show us the uncomfortable truths about the world we live in."
in full: http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/israeli-documentarian-tackles-the-question-of-what-makes-a-hero-1.409504
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