2008, Israel, Germany, France, USA, Finland, Switzerland, Belgium, Australia, 87 min
Technical Data: Format 35 mm | 1:1,85 | Colour | Dolby Digital

Written, Directed and Produced by Ari Folman
Producers Yael Nahlieli, Bridgit Folman Film Gang, Israel /
Serge Lalou, Les Films d’Ici, France /
Gerhard Meixner, Razor Film, Germany /
Roman Paul, Razor Film, Germany
In Co-production with Arte France – Direction des documentaries,
Thierry Garrel, Pierrette Ominetti / ITVS International
In collaboration with Noga Communications – Channel 8 /
The New Israeli Foundation for Cinema & T.V. /
Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg /
Israel Film Fund, HOT Telecommunication System Ltd /
RTBF / TSR / YLE / SBS
Animation by Bridgit Folman Film Gang
Art Director and Illustrator David Polonsky
Director of Animation Yoni Goodman
Lead Animators Tal Gadon, Gali Edelbaum
Animators Neta Holzer, Asenath (Osi) Wald, Sefi Gayego,
Orit Shimon, Zohar Shahar, Lilach Sarid, Barak Drori
3D Animation Asenath (Osi) Wald
Artists Michael Faust, Asaf Hanuka, Tomer Hanuka, Ya’ara Buchman
Visual Effects Supervisor Roiy Nitzan
Editor Nili Feller Sound Designer Aviv Aldema
Original Music Max Richter

Synopsis

One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. Every night, the same number of beasts. The two men conclude that there’s a connection to their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised that he can’t remember a thing anymore about that period of his life. Intrigued by this riddle, he decides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the world. He needs to discover the truth about that time and about himself. As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his memory begins to creep up in surreal images…

Awards

Best Foreign Film - British Independent Film Awards
One of the Five Best Foreign Language Films - National Board of Review
Grand Prize - Tokyo Filmex
Best Composer - European Film Awards
Best Animation - Los Angeles Film Critics Association
One of the Ten Best Films of 2008 - Associated Press
One of the Ten Best Films of 2008 - New York Post
One of the Ten Best Films of 2008 - New York Magazine
One of the Ten Best Films of 2008 - Entertainment Weekly
One of the Ten Best Films of 2008 - Washington Press

Bioghraphy

In the mid 1980s, after completing his military service, Ari Folman ventured out on his dream trip to circle the world with a backpack. Just two weeks and two countries into the trip, Ari realized traveling was not for him, so he settled into small guesthouses in Southeast Asia and wrote letters to his friends at home, letters in which he totally fabricated the perfect trip. One whole year of being in one place and writing down the fruits of his fantastical imagination convinced him to return home and study cinema.

His graduate film, COMFORTABLY NUMB (1991) documented Ari’s close friends taking cover on the
verge of anxiety attacks during the first Gulf war while Iraqi missiles landed all over Tel Aviv. The result
was comical and absurd and the film won the Israeli Academy award for Best Documentary.

Between 1991–1996 Ari directed documentary specials for TV, mainly in the occupied territories. In
1996 he wrote and directed SAINT CLARA, a feature film based on a novel by Czech author Pavel Kohout.

The film won seven Israeli Academy awards, including Best Director and Best Film. SAINT CLARA opened the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama and won the People’s Choice Award. The film was screened throughout America and Europe to critical acclaim. Ari continued directing successful documentary series and took time off for his second feature in 2001. MADE IN ISRAEL is a futuristic fantasy that centers upon the pursuit of the world’s only remaining Nazi.

Ari has written for several successful Israeli TV series, including the award-winning IN TREATMENT
(“Be Tipul”), which was the basis for the new HBO series of the same name.

Ari made his initial attempt at animation in his series THE MATERIAL THAT LOVE IS MADE OF – each episode opens with five minutes of documentary animation which depicts scientists presenting their theories on the evolution of love. This successful attempt at documentary animation propelled Ari to develop the unique format of WALTZ WITH BASHIR. Based on a true story, the film is a quest into the director’s memory for the missing pieces from the days of the Lebanon War in the mid 80s. As far as Ari was concerned, it was only natural to transform the quest into animation, full of imagination and fantasy.

Filmography

2008 WALTZ WITH BASHIR (feature, animated documentary)
Writer, Director, Producer
2006 IN TREATMENT (TV, dramatic series)
Writer
Israeli Academy Award Winner – Best Screenplay for Dramatic Series
2005 CHAPTER OF THE WEEK (TV, dramatic series)
Writer
2004 THE MATERIAL THAT LOVE IS MADE OF (TV, documentary series)
Writer, Director, Producer
Israeli Academy Award Winner – Best Documentary Series
2001 THE THIRD EYE (TV, documentary series)
Writer, Director
2001 MADE IN ISRAEL (feature)
Writer, Director
Israeli Academy Award Winner – Best Cinematography, Best Music
2000–2004 SATURDAYS & HOLIDAYS (TV, dramatic series)
Screenwriter Israeli Academy Award Winner – Best Dramatic Series 2003
1996 SAINT CLARA (feature)
Writer, Co-Director Israeli Academy Award Winner – Seven, including Best Film and Best Director
1991 COMFORTABLY NUMB (feature documentary)
Writer, Co-Director Israeli Academy Award Winner – Best Documentary