Yair Qedar

Yair Qedar

Yair Qedar (Hebrew: יאיר קדר‎, born June 13, 1969) is an Israeli filmmaker, civil-rights activist and cultural critic. His academic training on 20th century Hebrew literature (Tel Aviv University), propelled him into to The Hebrews — a trans media project on the Hebrew literary canon, centered on filmic portraits of the Hebrew writers. His documentary films — Bialik - King of the Jews, The 5 Houses of Lea Goldberg and The Seven Tapes of Yona Wallach — aired on Israeli TV, circulated far and wide in cinematheques, community and cultural centers, in Israel and around the world (USA & Canada, Europe, Australia and Russia) earning several awards. The project, both digital and print, offers the films, a Video archive and several books. He is also the initiator of various media projects in Israel, in the fields of the conservation of culture, specifically Hebrew literature and language, and in the LGBT community such as the first LGBT newspaper Hazman HaVarod.

Filmography

1. Bialik- King of the Jews, on the life and art of the Hebrew National Poet Bialik, is the official selection of Docaviv film festival and it premiered on spring 2014 in cinematheques and Israeli Channel 8. Nomenated for best documentary film in the Israeli documentary competition of 2014.
2. The Seven Tapes, Israel 2012, about the life of the Poet Yona Wallach, isthe official selection at the Jerusalem Film Festival in 2012, and winner of best film for 2012 and best soundtrack for 2012 in the Israeli documentary film competition for 2012. The film was supported by the Israeli film service, channel 8 and the Rabinoqitz foundation for the arts.
3. "The 5 houses of Lea Goldberg", Israel 2011, about the life of the poet Leah Goldberg, is the official selection of Docaviv Film Festival 2011 and Doc Aviv Galilee 2011, it won three prizes at the Israeli Documentary Film Competition for 2011. The film is supported by the Israeli film service, The New Foundation for Cinema and TV and The Second Authority for Television and Radio. '
4. Gay Days,^[1] about the GLBT community in Israel, based on his own personal story with the stories of other prominent gay men and women in Israel (Gal Uchovsky, Eytan Fox, Dana International, Offer Nissim, Michal Eden and others), premiered on May 2009 in Tel Aviv in Docaviv International Documentary Film Festival.,^[2][3] and also was screened at the official opening of the Tel Aviv Gay Pride events of 2009, was the official selection of the Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival, 2009, and the official selection of the Panorama section in the Berlin International Film Festival, 2010.

Activism

He was founding editor of Pink Time, Israel's first gay, lesbian and transgender newspaper,^[4] writes in various publications, such as Haaretz, Yedioth Ahronoth, Masa Acher, and is recipient of various journalistic prizes, including winner of the B'nai B'rith World Center Award for Journalism in 2003, and Euromed Heritage Journalistic Award in 2005 and 2006.^[5][6][7]

In the 1990s, he was a founder of LGBT studies and queer theory in Israel. He edited the first gay theatre show in Israel in 1994, and edited Beyond Sexuality, an anthology of gay and lesbian studies.^[8] Recently, he founded the Rainbow Families organization in Israel, aimed at promoting the rights, understanding and position of LGBT families in the country.

Additional reading

• The Russians Have Pushkin, the Jews Have Bialik review on Bialik King og the Jews by Michael Weingrad in Mosaic Magazine.
• article by Michael Weingrad on the Seven Tapes -Yona Wallah as the last Hebrew
• Article in Haaretz on the 5 houses of Lea Goldberg
• Bialik king of the Jews website.
• Hebrews website.
• Seven Tapes website.
• 5 Houses of Lea Goldberg website.
• Qedar on IMBD
• Yair Qedar in the Israeli film center.

References