Danae Elon (Hebrew: דנאי אילון; born December 23, 1970) is a documentary filmmaker and cinematographer from Jerusalem. She is based in Montreal, Quebec.

Danae Elon
Born
Danae Elon

(1970-12-23) December 23, 1970 (age 53)
Jerusalem, Israel
Occupation(s)Director, cinematographer, producer
SpousePhilip Touitou

Biography

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Danae Elon was born in Jerusalem. She is the daughter of journalist and author Amos Elon, and Beth Elon. Danae Elon graduated from New York University in 1995.

Film career

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In 2009 she received the Guggenheim fellowship[1] in the category of film. Her work has often centered around Jerusalem and the Palestinian struggle. Wild Mint, which she directed and produced, and Cut,[2] which she photographed and co-produced, were the first films in which she attempted to reconcile state ideology and reality.

In 2001 Elon produced her first critically acclaimed film, Another Road Home,[3][4] which received a grant from the Sundance Institute Documentary Program in 2003. The film premiered at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival and was showcased in over 20 international film festivals, including IDFA, Los Angeles Film Festival, Jerusalem Film Festival, Hot Docs, Encounters South Africa and Gothenburg. Another Road Home was theatrically released in 2005 and was shown in 15 US cities. It was broadcast on the Sundance channel, BBC, Finnish, Belgian, New Zealand, Swedish, and on both Al Jazeera and Israeli television. It was cited as one of the most important films about the subject.

Her second feature documentary, Partly Private,[5] was about male circumcision. An Israeli-Canadian co-production, it was screened on ARTE France, TV Ontario, Canal Vie, TV2 Denmark, and Channel 8 Israel.

Three other critically acclaimed and award winning documentary films by Elon are P.S. Jerusalem, The Patriarch's Room and A Sister's Song.

Academic career

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Elon was a lecturer at the Sapir Academic College and head of the Israeli documentary program at Cinema South International Film Festival.[6] She is currently an adjunct lecturer at Queens University at Kingston.

Awards and recognition

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Her first documentary film, Never Again Forever,[7] was released in 1996. It showcased in over 25 international film festivals and received a Golden Spire award from the San Francisco International Film Festival as well as an achievement award from the Chicago International Film Festival.

Partly Private[8] premiered in the 2009 Tribeca film festival[9] and won the Best New York Documentary award.[10]

Elon won two awards for Another Road Home:[11] a bronze medal from the Warsaw International Film Festival, and best documentary from Tursak Film Festival in Istanbul.

The Patriarch's Room won Best research and Music award at the Docaviv film festival as well as Best documentary at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival and Best Documentary at the Beyond Borders Film Festival in Greece. For A Sister's Song she received the AIDC Award for innovation in documentary filmmaking as well as an Iris Award for cinematography.

Filmography

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Year Title Credited as Festivals and awards Ref.
1996 Never Again, Forever Director, producer International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam

Hamptons International Film Festival

New York Jewish Film Festival

São Paulo International Film Festival

San Francisco International Film Festival – Golden Spire Award

Chicago International Film Festival – Achievement Award

[12][13]

[14]

1998 Wild Mint Director, producer Jerusalem International Film Festival

Lisbon International Film Festival

[15]
2000 Cut Producer, cinematographer International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam

Jerusalem International Film Festival – Special Award for Cinematography

Dok Leipzig

[16]
2005 Another Road Home Director, producer, writer, additional cinematographer Hot Docs

Tribeca Film Festival

Los Angeles Film Festival

Jerusalem International Film Festival

Tursak International Film Festival – 1st Prize and Jury Prize

Göteborg Film Festival

Encounters South African International Documentary Festival

Jewish Motifs International Film Festival – Bronze Medal

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

2009 Partly Private Director, writer Tribeca Film Festival – Best New York Documentary

Jewish Motifs International Film Festival – Best Representation of Israeli and Jewish contemporary Culture

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

2015 P.S. Jerusalem Director, producer, cinematographer Toronto International Film Festival

Berlin International Film Festival

Doc NYC

Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal – Student Choice Award

Haifa International Film Festival

The Cinema South International Film Festival

London Human Rights Watch Film Festival

Geneva Human Rights Watch Film Festival

Melbourne International Film Festival

Zurich Human Rights Watch Film Festival

Visioni Fuori Raccordo Film Festival

Biografilm Festival

Giffoni Film Festival

[25][26]
2016 The Patriarch's Room Director, producer, writer Doc Aviv – Best Research Award & Special Mention of the European Critique Circle

New York Jewish Film Festival

[27][28]
2018 A Sister's Song Director, producer Doc Aviv – AIDC Award for Innovative Filmmaking [29]

References

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  1. ^ Elon, Danae. "Fellow". Guggehneim foundation. Archived from the original on June 4, 2013.
  2. ^ Khleifi, George. Palestinian Cinema: Landscape, Trauma and Memory. Edinburgh University Press.
  3. ^ "Another Road Home". IMDB.
  4. ^ Elon, Danae. "Director". Another Road Home. Desert News.
  5. ^ Partly, Private. "Documentary". Partly Private. Body Pixel.
  6. ^ Elon, Danae. "Programmer". Bernard Avishai.
  7. ^ "Never Again, Forever". IMDB.
  8. ^ Tribecca Film Festival. "Review". Tribecca.
  9. ^ MCCRACKEN, KRISTIN (May 1, 2009). "FACES OF THE FESTIVAL: DANAE ELON". Tribeca Film Festival. Tribeca Film Festival. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  10. ^ "Tribeca Winners 2009: 'About Elly' and Ciaran Hinds". TheWrap. April 30, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  11. ^ Jeannette, Catsoulis. "Another Road Home". Review. New York Times. Retrieved April 29, 2005.
  12. ^ Rabiger, Michael (2013). Directing Film Techniques and Aesthetics. CRC Press.
  13. ^ New York Times. "Never Again, Forever". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 29, 2013.
  14. ^ "Never Again, Forever | San Francisco Film Festival". history.sffs.org. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  15. ^ "Wild Mint | Danae Elon Films". www.danaeelon-films.com. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  16. ^ Hassan, Nizar (January 1, 2000), Cut, retrieved January 31, 2017
  17. ^ Hornaday, Ann (May 13, 2005). "An Israeli Woman's Search for Peace". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  18. ^ Catsoulis, Jeannette (April 29, 2005). "Film in Review; 'Another Road Home'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  19. ^ Crust, Kevin (May 6, 2005). "Love bridges gulf of political war". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  20. ^ Scheib, Ronnie (June 2, 2004). "Review: 'Another Road Home'". Variety. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  21. ^ "WATCH IT! "PARTLY PRIVATE": Movie Review". latenightlavender.blogspot.ca. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  22. ^ Simon, Alissa (April 25, 2009). "Review: 'Partly Private'". Variety. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  23. ^ ""Partly Private" is a venturesome documentary questioning the practice of male infant circumcision". www.billsmovienewsandreviews.com. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  24. ^ Green, David B. (July 3, 2017). "Film To Cut or Not to Cut". Haaretz. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  25. ^ "Berlin Hidden Gems: 'P.S. Jerusalem' Doc Offers an Unflinching Family Portrait". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  26. ^ Hatib, Luai Musa; Elon, Amos Touitou; Elon, Andrei Touitou; Elon, Tristan Touitou (June 1, 2015), P.S. Jerusalem, retrieved February 1, 2017
  27. ^ "The Patriarch's Room". Film Society of Lincoln Center. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  28. ^ "Docaviv 2016 Winners Announced | Docaviv 2016". Docaviv 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  29. ^ "DOCAVIV 20TH EDITION WINNERS ANNOUNCED". Retrieved March 12, 2019.