Lia van Leer

Lia van Leer, born in 1924 in Bălţi Romania (now Republic of Moldova, is a co-founder of the Jerusalem Cinematheque. She is also founded the International Jerusalem Film Festival in 1984, which she directed until 2008. Lia Van Leer is one of the leading figures in the Israeli film industry. [http://www.romanianjewish.org/en/index_isro_arhiva_30.html] She traveled to Palestine in 1940 to visit her sister and never left. She married Wim van Leer, a Dutch engineer, pilot, playwright and film producer. [http://www.romanianjewish.org/en/index_isro_arhiva_30.html] The couple settled in Haifa, where they founded the country's first film club in 1955. "There was no television back then", she remembers, "and we had a 16 mm projector that had come as a gift from my father-in-law. Each Friday we would have friends over to watch movies. Our house became the most popular in Haifa." [http://www.romanianjewish.org/en/index_isro_arhiva_30.html] This film club became the Haifa Cinematheque. The Van Leers' private collection of films was the basis for the Israeli Film Archive, founded in 1960. In 1973, the Van Leers moved to Jerusalem. In 1981, Lia opened the Jerusalem Cinematheque in an old abandoned building opposite the walls of the Old City with the assistance of the mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kollek and the Jerusalem Foundation. [http://www.romanianjewish.org/en/index_isro_arhiva_30.html]

After the death of her husband in 1991, Lia inaugurated the Wim Van Lee Award for High School Students to encourage young filmmakers. In its first year, eight films were submitted; in 2008, 90 films contended for the prize. [ Jerusalem Film Festival, 10-19 July, 2008, Haaretz supplement, p.45]

Awards

Lia van Leer received the Israel Prize in 2002. She won a prize for her volunteer work from Israeli president Chaim Herzog in 1988. [http://www.romanianjewish.org/en/index_isro_arhiva_30.html]

References