ADAM KAMIEN

IN 1995 Israel and Australia put pen to paper on a film co-production agreement, which was designed to promote mutual cooperation between the two nations for the purposes of filmmaking.

More than 14 years after the tarted up memorandum of understanding was drafted, it has finally borne fruit.

The film $9.99, the first official Australia/Israel co-production, is a bitter-sweet stop-motion feature that embodies the notion of cultural cross-pollination.

The director and writer are Israeli, the film’s producers hail from both countries, while the film is set in Sydney and was shot there as well.

It also boasts the pick of Australia’s internationally acclaimed stars with Geoffrey Rush, Anthony LaPaglia and Barry Otto lending their voices.

The film had its premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) last week and is scheduled for a limited national release in September.

Based on the short stories of renowned Israeli author Etgar Keret, the title $9.99 refers to the price of a mail order book that promises to reveal the meaning of life. Twenty-eight-year-old slacker Dave tries to spruik the book to a colourful cast of weird and wonderful characters, most of who are too preoccupied with their bleak lives to care.

The film came into existence after Jewish-Australian producer Emile Sherman (Rabbit Proof Fence, Candy) met with Keret in Israel and read the screenplay for $9.99.

Sherman was looking for the right project to make use of the untapped Australia/Israel agreement, but according to director Tatia Rosenthal, he needed some convincing.

“He was a bit apprehensive about trying to produce an animated film, but was very captivated by the screenplay. I had to make a case for animation and I did,” Rosenthal says.

“[Sherman] had the film financed in less than a year after that and [producer] Amir [Harel] (Walk on Water, Jellyfish) joined on the Israeli side.”

Stop motion is a particularly painstaking form of animation that involves moving characters and objects in small increments, photographing them and repeating. When the thousands of shots are played in sequence it gives the illusion of movement.

Rosenthal used a short animation she had produced previously, also based on a Keret short story, as proof of concept to convince Sherman and potential investors that the film was viable.

Keret’s stories have inspired other films, notably the impressive Wristcutters: A Love Story in 2006 and the award-winning animated short Crazy Glue in 1998, which was also directed by Rosenthal.

“[Keret] is one of a kind. I think his stories are incredibly smart and funny and entirely understated,” Rosenthal says. “I think understated work, when it’s smart, really draws the reader in emotionally because there is so much work done by the reader. His work is so satisfying and eye-opening and deeply humanist.”

But this poignant tale about life and relationships was the unlikely catalyst for a controversial storm last month, after British filmmaker Ken Loach boycotted MIFF because of Israel’s sponsorship of the event.

The sponsorship came in the form of a plane ticket to Australia for Rosenthal and an after-party following the premiere screening of the film.

“It really came out of nowhere for me because the film is so universal and non-political. I have a great appreciation for Ken Loach, but I really felt like as much as he wants to impact the conflict, which of course is a noble cause and comes from a good place, it was really mishandled I thought.

“The Israeli film community has always been incredibly politically involved and all for resolving the conflict. Creating a situation where Israeli filmmakers become boycotted around the world is certainly not helpful. Not helpful and not right.”

A New York University Film School graduate, Rosenthal has been involved with film industries around the world and said Australia/Israel co-productions made sense given the similarities between the two cultures and the industries.

“For the size of the country [the Australian film industry] is amazing … for any country for that matter. The actors are phenomenally talented and there are so many international productions coming here and having big films made in Australia mean the people behind the camera are talented as well.”