Special Mention for Fiction

A Unicorn in Tel Aviv 

by Zohar Ballas
Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology and the Arts, Israel

Jury Motivation

A film that easily and skillfully tells the story of purity, freedom, gentleness, innocence, divinity, and magic encompassed by a single, yet most powerful human emotion - love! A visual bliss of love for cinema.

Synopsis

A witty Tel Aviv comedy. Alonna, 28, tries to find herself in the big city despite her insistence to live offline. On the brink of giving up, the city unfolds its love and affection.

Director's biography

Zohar Ballas born in 1990 in Givatayim. Served in the Israeli Air Force. She holds a B.Ed.F.A in Film and Education from Seminar Hakibbutzim College (2019). Produced and directed a short documentary film, a genre workshop film and an exercise in experimental cinema that was screened at an exhibition in Paris and at the 2018 Epos Festival, and two final film projects.
Her final film project "A Unicorn in Tel Aviv" (which she wrote and directed) received support from the New Israeli Foundation for Cinema and Television.
She produced Gilad Blum’s first music video: "My mother is always right", and Aviv Terner's second music video “Harbe Avir" which she also wrote and directed. She has a teaching certificate and currently works as a practical cinema teacher.

Credits

Written and directed by Zohar Ballas
Cinematography: Gal Dulev
Editing: Ori Sinai

Specifications

Original title: A Unicorn in Tel Aviv
Running time: 20'
Film type: Fiction
Country: Israel
Completion date: March, 2019