Year-round access to Jewish and Israeli film and TV

EDDIE TAMIR talks to PAULA TOWERS about Israeli film and TV - with a special offer for streaming service ChaiFlicks

Israel is a small country but its film and television products punch above their weight. Think of the success of Fauda or Shtisl on Netflix. Or the remakes of Prisoners of War and B'Tipul, which inspired the American series Homeland and In Therapy respectively.

So, why have Israeli TV series – and films - become so successful around the world?

Eddie Tamir, CEO of Moving Story Entertainment [MSE] believes part of the answer lies in cultural richness.

“Obviously, [there are] lots of stories in Israel and in Jewish history; so lots of drama – historic and cultural to draw from, in terms of storytelling,” he said.

But he also credits the low-budget style of Israeli television-making, which provides a punchy contrast with the glossy expensive American productions.

“There’s also a real ingenuity in Israel in general and in the production space in particular – so a lot of things that are made in Israel, elsewhere would be a much higher budget.”

Australian audiences have embraced Israeli film. With 50,000 tickets sold each year, Australia's Jewish International Film Festival (JIFF) is the largest Jewish film festival of its type in the world.

MSE own the four cinemas which host JIFF in Sydney and Melbourne. But Tamir is also aware that there is an appetite for Israel and Jewish film and television which doesn't want to be restricted to festival time.

So, MSE has recently acquired an interest in ChaiFlicks, an online platform which streams Jewish and Israeli content. Chaiflicks is now available in Australia and is currently promoting its offer with a one-year subscription at half price.

“Now that we have a great selection of library titles as well as exclusive brand-new titles and TV series, we thought it was a good time to make some noise,” Tamir said.

JIFF regulars are a key audience for the streaming service. “We know from our Jewish Film Festival in Australia and from 100 Jewish Film Festivals in America that there is a keen demand for curated Jewish and Israeli films.

“Our JIFF experience has led us to be experts in the area of Jewish and Israeli films. This enables us to contribute some expertise to ChaiFlicks, and try to reach a wide international audience, all year round,” Tamir said.

But MSE also hopes to draw audiences who are not part of the JIFF mainstream, noting the increasing audiences for foreign language film and television.

“Because of the achievements of Netflix, whether it’s a Korean Squid Games or an Israeli Shtisel and Fauda, the general commercial wider audience is also keyed into great viewing stories from other countries,” he said.

Big drawcards on ChaiFlicks include Checkout, Israel's most successful comedies, which follows the antics of customers and staff of a struggling Israeli supermarket, and The New Black (“Shababnikim” in Hebrew), an original comedy about four rebellious students at a prestigious Orthodox Yeshiva in Jerusalem, which won four Israeli Television Awards.

For lovers of drama, Wartime Girls presents the Nazi occupation from the perspective of three young Polish women in Warsaw.

The back catalogue includes Srugim, a drama which launched in 2008 and was one of Israel TV's original successes in bringing the stories of Orthodox Jews to wider audiences.

Politics buffs and documentary viewers can watch a seven-part series of Israeli prime ministers, plus individual films about other prime ministers, a collection which can’t be found elsewhere.

Tamir also hopes ChaiFlicks will plug into MSE's interest in supporting local performing arts. JIFF now has performing arts, comedy and music events and Tamir hopes to expand ChaiFlicks library to include Australian Jewish content, possibly recording local live comedy.

To claim your ChaiFlicks special offer, go to ChaiFlicks and use code WINTER50

Photo: Stars of The New Black, one of Israel's most successful recent series