Lior Geller
{{short description|American film director}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lior Geller
| native_name = ליאור גלר
| native_name_lang = he
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1982}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = American, Israeli
| other_names =
| education =
| alma_mater = Tel Aviv University
| occupation = Film Producer, Screenwriter, Director and Cinematographer
| known_for = Producer, Writer and Director of Roads, a student short film that has set a Guinness World Record.
}}
Lior Geller ({{Langx|he|ליאור גלר}}) is an Emmy Award nominated Israeli-American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, cinematographer and composer best known for writing, directing and producing the student short film titled "Roads" which was nominated for a Student Academy Award and holds the Guinness World Record for Most Awards Won by a Short Student Film, as well as writing, directing and producing the feature film The World Will Tremble which tells the true story of the first escape from the first Nazi death camp during World War II. {{cite news | title =Israeli Student Film Sets Guinness World Record | publisher =aftau.org| date =5 April 2017 | url =https://www.aftau.org/news-page-arts--culture?&storyid4698=2326&ncs4698=3 | access-date =5 April 2018}}{{cite news | last =Yonatan | first =Sredni | title =Best picture: prize-winning Israeli student film "Roads" sets Guinness World Record | publisher =jewishwebsite.com| date =26 May 2017 | url =https://jewishwebsite.com/featured/best-picture-prize-winning-israeli-student-film-roads-sets-guinness-world-record/13982/ | access-date =5 April 2018}}{{Cite web|url=http://redcarpetcrash.com/movie-review-we-die-young/|title=Movie Review: 'We Die Young'|last=RedCarpetCrash|date=2019-03-02|website=RedCarpetCrash.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-17}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1942069/|title=Lior Geller|website=IMDb|access-date=2019-10-05}}{{Cite web |last=Yossman |first=K. J. |date=2023-12-18 |title=‘The Invisible Man’ Star Oliver Jackson-Cohen, ‘Grantchester’s’ Jeremy Neumark Jones to Lead World War II Feature ‘The World Will Tremble’ (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2023/film/global/oliver-jackson-cohen-jeremy-neumark-jones-the-world-will-tremble-film-holocaust-1235843432/ |access-date=2025-05-04 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}
Early life and education
Geller (born 1982) grew up in Highland Park, New Jersey and Ramat Gan, Israel. He studied film at the Steve Tisch School of Film and Television at Tel Aviv University.
Career
Geller started his film career editing movie trailers and writing, directing and producing several short films, including the multiple award winning short film "Roads" which was nominated for a Student Academy Award and currently sets the Guinness World Record for Most Awards Won by a Short Student Film.{{cite news | last =Anne | first =Joseph | title =The art of the short | publisher =thejc.com| date =6 March 2017 | url =https://www.thejc.com/culture/film/the-art-of-the-short-1.433765 | access-date =5 April 2018}}{{cite news | last =Yonatan | first =Sredni | title =Best Picture: Prize-Winning Israeli Student Film "Roads" Sets Guinness World Record| publisher =nocamels.com| date =10 May 2017 | url =http://nocamels.com/2017/05/israeli-student-film-roads-guiness-world-record/ | access-date =5 April 2018}}
In 2008, Geller wrote and directed an Emmy nominated documentary which premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, won multiple awards, was sold to PBS in the United States where it played on its Wide Angle series in 2009, earning Geller an Emmy nomination.{{cite magazine | last =Dave | first =McNary | title =Eric Eisner spies 'Alone' | magazine =variety.com| date =19 January 2010 | url =https://variety.com/2010/film/news/eric-eisner-spies-alone-1118014010/ | access-date =5 April 2018}}
Following the success of "Roads", Geller was brought to Hollywood where he sold his first feature screenplay "Alone in Damascus" to Eric Eisner’s Double E Pictures.{{cite news | last =Evan | first =Jacobs | title =L+E Pictures Is Alone in Damascus | publisher =movieweb.com| date =19 January 2010 | url =https://movieweb.com/le-pictures-is-alone-in-damascus/ | access-date =5 April 2018}} After the sale of "Alone in Damascus", Geller went on to sell multiple screenplays as a screenwriter and direct several unscripted television series.{{cite news | title =Israel spy Eli Cohen will get the feature-film treatment | publisher =latimesblogs.latimes.com| date =14 January 2010 | url =http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2010/01/eli-cohen-movie-israeli-spy.html | access-date =5 April 2018}}
Geller's feature film debut, We Die Young, premiered at the 2019 Mammoth Film Festival on February 7, 2019 in Mammoth Lakes, CA as the festival’s opening night gala film.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jean-claude-van-dammes-we-die-young-open-mammoth-film-festival-1176265|title=Jean-Claude Van Damme's 'We Die Young' to Open Mammoth Film Festival|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=15 January 2019 |language=en|access-date=2019-10-05}} Prior to the screening, the film was preemptively purchased by Lionsgate Films for distribution in the United States.{{Cite web|url=http://cityonfire.com/lior-geller-we-die-young-jean-claude-van-damme-trailer/|title=We Die Young {{!}} Blu-ray & DVD (Lionsgate) {{!}} cityonfire.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-05}} Lionsgate released the film on March 1, 2019 to critical acclaim with particular praise for Geller’s direction and the performance of lead actor Jean-Claude Van Damme.{{Cite web|url=http://redcarpetcrash.com/movie-review-we-die-young/|title=Movie Review: 'We Die Young'|last=RedCarpetCrash|date=2019-03-02|website=RedCarpetCrash.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-05}}
His second film The World Will Tremble had its world premiere at the Miami Jewish Film Festival in Miami, Florida on 16 January 2025 and was released in US theaters March 14, 2025 by Vertical.{{cite web|url= https://miamijewishfilmfestival.org/films/2025/the-world-will-tremble|website=miamijewishfilmfestival|date=16 January 2025|accessdate=18 January 2025|title=The World Will Tremble}}{{cite web|website=Miami Herald|url= https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article298189128.html |accessdate=18 January 2025|title= Powerful stories. Timely themes. Miami Jewish Film Festival returns for 28th year|first=Lauren|last=Costantino|date=January 9, 2025}} The film holds a 92% rating on review aggregator website site Rotten Tomatoes and has been called "Astonishing... the first great film of 2025" by film critic Keith Arlington. {{Cite web |title=The World Will Tremble {{!}} Rotten Tomatoes |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_world_will_tremble |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=www.rottentomatoes.com |language=en}}
Awards and nominations
Since 2007 Geller has received numerous awards and nominations setting a Guinness World Record for Most Awards Won by a Short Student Film for "Roads".{{cite news | last =Anderman | first =Nirit | title =Film on Arab Boy's Unlikely Friendship With Israeli Ex-soldier Sets Guinness World Record| publisher =haaretz.com| date =8 April 2017 | url =https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/culture/movies/.premium-israeli-film-on-arab-boy-sets-guinness-world-record-1.5458894 | access-date =5 April 2018}}{{cite news | title =Roads| publisher =israelfilmcenter.org| url =http://www.israelfilmcenter.org/israeli-film-database/films/roads/awards | access-date =5 April 2018}}
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Festival ! Award ! Title ! Result |
|---|
| rowspan="6" |2007
| Aubagne International Film Festival | Special Mention | rowspan="33" | Roads | {{won}} |
| Beijing College Student Film Festival
| Jury Award | {{won}} |
| Euromed Cafe FondazioneMediterraneo
| Inspiration Award | {{won}} |
| Jerusalem Film Festival
| Wolgin Award for Best Short Film | {{won}} |
| rowspan="2" | Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival
| Youth Audience Award | {{won}} |
| Short Film Grand Prize
| {{nom}} |
| rowspan="34" | 2008
| rowspan="3" | Festival Inventa Un Film, Italy | Third Prize | {{won}} |
| Best Editing
| {{won}} |
| Best Soundtrack
| {{won}} |
| CILECT International Association of Film Schools
| Best Film | {{won}} |
| Cinerail Film Festival, Paris
| Georges Ragot Prize | {{won}} |
| rowspan="2" | Circuito Off Venice International Short Film Festival
| RTP2 Award | {{won}} |
| Special Mention
| {{won}} |
| Israel Film Festival
| Audience Award | {{won}} |
| Encounters International Film Festival
| International Jury Award | {{nom}} |
| Expresion en Corto International Film Festival
| Best Fiction Short Film | {{nom}} |
| FIKE - Évora International Short Film Festival
| Best Film | {{won}} |
| International Festival of Film Schools, Mexico
| Best Film | {{won}} |
| Kraków Film Festival
| Best European Short Film | {{nom}} |
| Larissa Mediterranean Festival of New Filmmakers
| Special Jury Mention | {{nom}} |
| London Film Festival
| Prix UIP London (European Short Film) | {{nom}} |
| Nashville Jewish Film Festival (NJFF)
| Student Film Competition | {{won}} |
| Oberhausen International Short Film Festival
| Grand Prize | {{won}} |
| Odense International Film Festival
| Grand Prix | {{nom}} |
| Potsdam Sehsüchte
| Best Fiction | {{nom}} |
| San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
| Best Short Film | {{nom}} |
| Student Academy Awards, USA
| Honorary Foreign Film Award – Best Foreign Film | {{nom}} |
| São Paulo International Short Film Festival
| MostraInternacionale– Best Film | {{nom}} |
| Taipei Film Festival
| Golden Lion International Student Film Competition | {{nom}} |
| Tampere International Short Film Festival
| Grand Prix | {{nom}} |
| Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival
| Best International Short | {{nom}} |
| Tribeca Film Festival
| Student Visionary Award | {{nom}} |
| U Frame International Academic Film Festival
| Jury First Prize | {{won}} |
| Dubai International Film Festival
| People’s Choice Award | rowspan="6" |The Heart of Jenin | {{won}} |
| Leipzig DOK Festival
| Best Documentary | {{won}} |
| Valladolid International Film Festival
| Best Documentary | {{won}} |
| Warsaw International Film Festival
| Best Documentary | {{won}} |
| rowspan="3"|Warsaw Jewish Film Festival
| Special Mention | {{won}} |
| Best Documentary Feature
| {{nom}} |
| Best Fiction Short
|rowspan="2"| Roads | {{nom}} |
| rowspan="8" |2009
|Flickerfest International Short Film Festival | Best Film | {{nom}} |
| Cinema for Peace Awards
| Most Valuable Documentary of the Years |rowspan="4"|The Heart of Jenin | {{won}} |
| European Film Awards
| European Documentary | {{nom}} |
| rowspan="2" |The Hague Movies that Matter Festival
| Audience Award | {{won}} |
| AllRights Award
| {{nom}} |
| San Diego Jewish Film Festival
| Audience Award |rowspan="3"| Roads | {{nom}} |
| Utah Arts Festival (Fear No Film)
| Audience Award | {{won}} |
| Washington Jewish Film Festival
| Audience Award | {{nom}} |
| rowspan="2"|2010
| International Documentary Association | IDA Award |rowspan="3"|The Heart of Jenin | {{nom}} |
| News & Documentary Emmy Awards
| Emmy | {{nom}} |
| 2011
| Nuremberg Film Festival "Turkey-Germany" | Ongoren Prize | {{nom}} |
| rowspan="4" |2019
| rowspan="4" |Mammoth Film Festival |Audience Award | rowspan="4" |We Die Young | {{nom}} |
| Best Feature
| {{nom}} |
| Grand Jury Award
| {{nom}} |
| Best Screenplay
| {{nom}} |
Filmography
Lior Geller has a catalogue of films and documentaries he produced, wrote and directed. The table below chronicles his filmography.
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" |
| scope="col" | Year
!scope="col" class="unsortable" | Title !scope="col" class="unsortable" | Role !scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| scope="row" | 2005
| Cinematographer | Documentary |
| scope="row" | 2007
| Roads | Director, producer and Writer | Short |
| scope="row" | 2008
| Director, writer | Documentary (as Leon Geller) |
| scope="row" | 2009
| Director, writer | TV series documentary (1 episode) |
| scope="row" | 2010
| Target: Happiness | Director | TV series (6 episodes) |
| scope="row" | 2016
| Hatched | Director | TV series (6 episodes) |
| scope="row" | 2017
| H1Z1: Fight for the Crown | Director, Editor, Musician (guitar) | TV mini-series |
| scope="row" | 2019
| Director, writer, Editor | Feature Film |
| scope="row" | 2025
| Director, writer | Feature Film |
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|1942069|Lior Geller}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geller, Lior}}
Category:Israeli film directors
Category:Israeli film producers
Category:Israeli female screenwriters
Category:Israeli cinematographers
Category:Film directors from New Jersey
Category:Film producers from New Jersey