Never Turn Your Back on Sparks
Never Turn Your Back on Sparks is a documentary comedy about the band Sparks and its loyal followers, fans of the “coolest underrated rock band in the world.” While exploring how music shapes our lives, the film’s search for Sparks fans leads to encounters with an extremely heterogeneous group of people, including an American pastor, a Swedish music teacher, a British gas engineer, and a punk singer–turned–belly dancer from Los Angeles—as well as a long list of well known pop culture figures.
Chicken Soup With Knives
Chicken Soup With Knives is a personal documentary that chronicles filmmaker Leora Eisenstein’s journey (with her sister and other companions) to Lviv, her family’s hometown before World War II. There, she embarks on a search for her roots as well as a sense of justice.
The journey from Israel to Ukraine encompasses meetings with current residents of Lviv, family reunions, and personal reflections. All of these elements converge as the film maps the effects of the past—and all of its painful memories—on the present.
Looking for Moshe Guez
Looking for Moshe Guez is a personal documentary by Avida Livny: “When I was a 10-year old boy a friend invited me to watch a must-see video that his older brother has rented: a horror film that included nude scenes and violent images of rape and of children being murdered – all in Hebrew.
“After many years I have found out that this film, which transformed my childhood, is considered by some to be the worst Israeli film ever made, that his director has disappeared, and so have the film reels – and that most likely I am the only person who still remembers it. I have decided that I have no choice but to look for Moshe Guez, the director, and find out his long lost film, The Angel was a Devil…"
Running Movie
Running Movie is a documentary film that focuses on Israeli long-distance runner Ayele Seteng (a.k.a. Haile Satayin), the oldest marathon runner to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and his efforts to participate in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Satayin has been a long-distance runner since he was a young boy in Ethiopia, but he only became a marathon runner after immigrating to Israel in the early 1990s. Now, at the age of 55, he keeps on running. We follow him as he practices in Ethiopia, far from his wife and eight children, and witness his moments of victory and defeat, as he competes in marathons around the world—from Berlin, Germany, to Tiberias, Israel.
Who Are We?
About Vice Versa Films
We are Vice Versa Films, an independent production company based in Tel Aviv.
Working locally and internationally, our goal is to develop, produce and co-produce both dramas and documentaries—including series, feature films, and short films—for all media: TV, cinema, and the Internet.
We love making innovative films about strong, compelling stories, music and art of all kinds, and brave new ideas that shake up the world—and we excel in doing what we love.
We enjoy collaborating with filmmakers at home and abroad, and have already produced films in the U.K., the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands, Ethiopia, and Israel.
Meeting us is easy. We will travel far to make films—and vice versa.
About Gidi Avivi
The founder of Vice Versa Films has long been known for his love of music…
Formerly a head of the music department and a music programmer at Israel’s Army Radio station, Gidi Avivi also served as the popular music critic for Haaretz newspaper from 1994 to 2006.
But he has always known that his passion for film is just as big…
Gidi Avivi holds an M.A. in Cinema Studies from New York University and a B.F.A. in Film and Television from Tel Aviv University.
So he started making films, one by one…
Among his works as a filmmaker: End of the Orange Season (for Channel 1—Israel Broadcasting Authority), a 12-part documentary series about the history of Israeli rock music; Bekummernis (for the Second Authority for Television and Radio); The Cahana Sisters (for Yes Docu), two documentary films about the Holocaust and present-day Israel; and On the Move (for Channel 8—Noga Communications), a musical documentary about the revolutionary debut album of Ehud Banai and the Refugees.
And Gidi Avivi also directs a film festival …
Since 2009, Gidi Avivi, with Micky Laron, has served as festival director and artistic director of EPOS, the International Art Film Festival. Based in Tel Aviv, the festival is an annual event that includes screenings, lectures, panels, and informal discussions with leading filmmakers from all over the world, which explore the ongoing dialogue between cinema and the arts—dance, music, fine arts, literature, and theatre.
Other projects
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2008 On the Move
Original Hebrew title: Hayav LazuzDirector: Avida LivnyA film about courage, friendship and rock and roll, about Ehud Banai and Yossi Elefant, about the revolutionary debut album by Israeli rock band the Refugees, and especially about the passion for doing the right thing.
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2006 The Cahana Sisters
Original Hebrew title: Haahayot CahanaDirector: Gilad MelzerA group portrait that explores the unique and dramatic life journey of four sisters who survived the death camps together during the Holocaust.
The Cahana Sisters at IMDb -
2006 Bekummernis
Director: Ido SelaA personal documentary about the director’s meetings with his family, friends, and neighbors during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Hanassi—a magical childhood landscape that was transformed into a crime scene.
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1998 End of the Orange Season
Original Hebrew title: Sof Onat HatapuzimAn in-depth documentary series that explores the history of Israeli rock from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Get in touch
Have a project that you would like us to produce or co-produce? Want to send us a script, a film proposal or an idea for a documentary? We’d love to hear from you!
Please contact:
Vice Versa Films
Attn: Gidi Avivi
17 Louis Marshall St., Apt. 8
Tel Aviv, Israel 62668
Tel.: +972 (0)50 528 7659
Email info@viceversa.co.il