The New Yorker has acquired Israeli documentary shorts “Holy Holocaust” and “Herd.”
Jerusalem-based sales agent Go2Films has secured a worldwide digital distribution deal with the publication for the pair of award-winning films. “Holy Holocaust” is directed by Osi Wald and Noa Berman-Hertzberg, while “Herd” is helmed by Omer Daida.
Both films are currently nominated for Israeli Academy Awards and have played at international festivals. “Herd” debuted on The New Yorker’s digital channels on Wednesday, while “Holy Holocaust” will be released on The New Yorker later this year.
“Holy Holocaust” is an animated doc short that reveals a dark family secret between two longtime friends: Jennifer, a German, and Noa, an Israeli. The film had its North American premiere at Hot Docs in May, and previously won best short animation at the 2021 Jerusalem Film Festival.
The film also screened in the Austrian Tricky Women/Tricky Realities, Krakow International Film Festival and Doc Edge International Film Festival in New Zealand. The deal was negotiated in collaboration with Cord Dueppe from the Berlin-based sales company Interfilm.
The short documentary “Herd” focuses on Na’ama, a 10-year-old who confronts questions of life and death as she works on her father’s cattle ranch. Director Omer Daida recently won the Most Promising Director award in the Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival, and, earlier this year, the Artistic Vision Award at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and the Students’ Film Competition at the Docaviv International Film Festival.
“Herd” premiered in IDFA as part of the shorts competition and was also screened at Doc Edge 2022, Pärnu Film Festival in Estonia, and the Ulju Mountain Film Festival in South Korea.
“Directed by young female filmmakers and focused on women, these stories combine delicacy, wisdom and a bold message with an uncompromising cinematic aesthetic,” said Hedva Goldschmidt, managing director of Go2Films. “We are happy to work with The New Yorker, home of compelling storytelling, which pays personal attention to every filmmaker.”
