In brief
Joseph Cedar is an Israeli film director and screenwriter known for his critically acclaimed films that explore the complexities of Israeli society, religion, military service, and politics.
Born in New York City on August 31, 1968, Cedar immigrated to Israel with his family at the age of six and later studied film at New York University.) His debut feature, Time of Favor (2000), won the Ophir Award for Best Film, establishing him as a prominent voice in Israeli cinema, followed by Campfire (2004) and Beaufort (2007), which addressed themes of religious fundamentalism and military experience. His film Footnote (2011) received an Academy Award nomination for Best International Feature Film and won multiple international prizes, while later works such as Norman (2016) and the HBO miniseries Our Boys (2019) continued his tradition of incisive social commentary. Cedar's films have earned major awards at festivals including Berlinale, contributing significantly to the international recognition of contemporary Israeli filmmaking.
Joseph Cedar was born on August 31, 1968, in New York City, United States, into an Orthodox Jewish family. His father is the biochemist Howard Cedar (known in Hebrew as Chaim Cedar), a professor of molecular biology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a recipient of the Israel Prize in Life Sciences.
In 1974, when Cedar was six years old, his family immigrated to Israel, making aliyah from New York and settling in the Bayit VeGan neighborhood of Jerusalem. There he grew up in a religious-Zionist community affiliated with the dati-leumi (national religious) world and was active in the Bnei Akiva youth movement. Cedar attended a yeshiva high school in Jerusalem as part of his upbringing in this observant environment.
Joseph Cedar studied philosophy and theater history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. ) He subsequently pursued film training in the United States, graduating from New York University's film school. )
