If you’re searching for the world’s most diverse landscape to film your next production, set your sights on Israel. With four climate regions, from snow peaks to sand dunes and unique plant and animal life mixing and crossing over three continents, Israel has a climate and landscape to accommodate all kinds of moviemaking—from sand-and-sandals historical epics to snow-covered mountain disaster movies.
Last year’s critically acclaimed dramedy The Band’s Visit was filmed in Israel’s Negev desert. The movie, about a band of Egyptian police officers who head to Israel to play at an Arab arts center but on the way get lost in the wrong town, took full advantage of its location, from long expanses of sand to off-the-beaten path small towns. Directed by Eran Kolirin, the film won eight of its 13 nominations at the 2007 Awards of the Israeli Film Academy, an award of Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival that same year and was selected to be Israel’s official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony, but was disqualified for having more than 50 percent of the film’s dialogue in English.
Incidents like this are the reason why Israel remains one of the most overlooked countries in the film community today. So don’t miss out on filming in the diverse settings and landscapes this one-of-a-kind country has to offer.
For more information on shooting in Israel, visit www.biblicalproductions.com.
Aside from The Band’s Visit, Israel’s unique locations have also been utilized in films including:
Exodus (1960)
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
The Omen (1976)
The Big Red One (1980)
Schindler’s List (1993)
Paradise Now (2005)
Black Book (2006)
You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (2008)
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