Israeli Oscar Hopeful ‘Incitement’ Scores U.S. Deal For WestEnd With Greenwich Entertainment

EXCLUSIVE: Israeli drama-thriller Incitement, the country’s international Oscar hopeful, has scored a U.S. deal for WestEnd Films with Greenwich Entertainment.

Writer-director Yaron Zilberman’s (A Late Quartet) Toronto title chronicles the year leading up to the assassination of Israel’s prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. Set against the backdrop of Rabin’s efforts to end the Israeli-Palestian conflict, the film is told through the journey of the assassin, Yigal Amir.

Pic is being lined up for a U.S. release on January 24, 2020.

The film examines all the forces that acted on him, from his personal quest to become a hero in the eyes of his peers, and the rejection he faces from his love interest, to the intense incitement of politicians and religious leaders.

Pic was co-written by Ron Leshem (Euphoria) and Yaron Zilberman. Yehuda Nahari Halevi (Wedding Doll) stars as Yigal Amir, alongside Amitay Yaish Ben Ousilio (The Man in the Wall), Anat Ravnizky, Yoav Levi, Dolev Ohana, Raanan Paz, Sivan Mast and Daniella Kertesz.

Producers are David Silber (Lebanon) for Metro Communications, Sharon Harel-Cohen (Gosford Park) for WestEnd Films, Tamar Sela (A Late Quartet) for Opening Night Productions, Ruth Cats (Past Life) for Sunshine Films, Moshe Edery (Beaufort) for United King Films, as well as Zilberman and Leshem.

Last month, the movie picked up the best film prize at Israel’s Ophir Awards, a decision which was met with condemnation from the country’s outspoken culture minister Miri Regev, who said the film had “no place” in the country due to its perceived criticism of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

WestEnd is handling world sales and will screen the film to buyers at the AFM.

“American audiences will not fail to draw parallels to our own toxic divides and be moved by the inexorable steps leading to the assassination that changed the direction of a nation away from a historic reconciliation,” said Greenwich co-MD Ed Arentz on the title.

“Greenwich Entertainment has a strong track-record of bringing terrific films to U.S. audiences and we cannot wait for the American public to discover ours,” added Sharon Harel-Cohen and Maya Amsellem from WestEnd Films.