Lior Geller

Lior Geller is an Academy Award nominated and 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 holds the Guinness World Record for Most Awards Won by a Short Student Film and its feature film adaptation "We Die Young" starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.[1][2][3][4]

Lior Geller
Born1982
NationalityUnited States, Israel
Alma materTel Aviv University
OccupationFilm Producer, Screenwriter, Director and Cinematographer
Known forProducer, Writer and Director of Roads, a student short film that has set a Guinness World Record.

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 an Academy Award and currently sets the Guinness World Record for Most Awards Won by a Short Student Film.[5][6]

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.[7]

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.[8] After the sale of "Alone in Damascus", Geller went on to sell multiple screenplays as a screenwriter and direct several unscripted television series.[9]

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.[10] Prior to the screening, the film was preemptively purchased by Lionsgate Films for distribution in the United States.[11] 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.[12] John Delia of Aced Magazine gave the film 4 out of 5 stars calling the film “Shocking, violent and emotional…” stating of director Lior Geller's work, “Geller… sets up the audience for a front row seat on a Godfather resembling movie.”[13] "We Die Young" is based on Geller's Oscar nominated short film and stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, Elijah Rodriguez (Sicario: Day of the Soldado), David Castañeda (The Umbrella Academy, End of Watch, Sicario: Day of the Soldado) and Joana Metrass (Once Upon a Time).[14] Geller is also in development of a television series based on the biblical story of The Maccabees.[15]

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.[16][17]

Year Festival Award Title Result
2007 Aubagne International Film Festival Special Mention 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
Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival Youth Audience Award Won
Short Film Grand Prize Nominated
2008 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
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 Nominated
Expresion en Corto International Film Festival Best Fiction Short Film Nominated
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 Nominated
Larissa Mediterranean Festival of New Filmmakers Special Jury Mention Nominated
London Film Festival Prix UIP London (European Short Film) Nominated
Nashville Jewish Film Festival (NJFF) Student Film Competition Won
Oberhausen International Short Film Festival Grand Prize Won
Odense International Film Festival Grand Prix Nominated
Potsdam Sehsüchte Best Fiction Nominated
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival Best Short Film Nominated
Student Academy Awards, USA Honorary Foreign Film Award – Best Foreign Film Nominated
São Paulo International Short Film Festival MostraInternacionale– Best Film Nominated
Taipei Film Festival Golden Lion International Student Film Competition Nominated
Tampere International Short Film Festival Grand Prix Nominated
Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival Best International Short Nominated
Tribeca Film Festival Student Visionary Award Nominated
U Frame International Academic Film Festival Jury First Prize Won
Dubai International Film Festival People’s Choice Award 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
Warsaw Jewish Film Festival Special Mention Won
Best Documentary Feature Nominated
Best Fiction Short Roads Nominated
2009 Flickerfest International Short Film Festival Best Film Nominated
Cinema for Peace Awards Most Valuable Documentary of the Years The Heart of Jenin Won
European Film Awards European Documentary Nominated
The Hague Movies that Matter Festival Audience Award Won
AllRights Award Nominated
San Diego Jewish Film Festival Audience Award Roads Nominated
Utah Arts Festival (Fear No Film) Audience Award Won
Washington Jewish Film Festival Audience Award Nominated
2010 International Documentary Association IDA Award The Heart of Jenin Nominated
News & Documentary Emmy Awards Emmy Nominated
2011 Nuremberg Film Festival "Turkey-Germany" Ongoren Prize Nominated
2019 Mammoth Film Festival Audience Award We Die Young Nominated
Best Feature Nominated
Grand Jury Award Nominated
Best Screenplay Nominated

Filmography

Lior Geller has a catalogue of films and documentaries he produced, wrote and directed. The table below chronicles his filmography.

Year Title Role Notes
2005 At the Green Line Cinematographer Documentary
2007 Roads Director, Producer and Writer Short
2008 The Heart of Jenin Director, Writer Documentary (as Leon Geller)
2009 Wide Angle Director, Writer TV Series documentary (1 episode)
2010 Target: Happiness Director TV Series (6 episodes)
2016 Hatched Director TV Series (6 episodes)
2017 H1Z1: Fight for the Crown Director, Editor, Musician (guitar) TV Mini-Series
2019 We Die Young Director, Writer, Editor Feature Film
gollark: I really need to pay more attention to these things.
gollark: ARing now!
gollark: Oops. Need to remember to stop ARing the turned ones.
gollark: ~~and me~~
gollark: I can catch another one before I need to send them over to you.

References
  1. "Israeli Student Film Sets Guinness World Record". aftau.org. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  2. Yonatan, Sredni (26 May 2017). "Best picture: prize-winning Israeli student film "Roads" sets Guinness World Record". jewishwebsite.com. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  3. RedCarpetCrash (2019-03-02). "Movie Review: 'We Die Young'". RedCarpetCrash.com. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  4. "Lior Geller". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
  5. Anne, Joseph (6 March 2017). "The art of the short". thejc.com. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  6. Yonatan, Sredni (10 May 2017). "Best Picture: Prize-Winning Israeli Student Film "Roads" Sets Guinness World Record". nocamels.com. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  7. Dave, McNary (19 January 2010). "Eric Eisner spies 'Alone'". variety.com. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  8. Evan, Jacobs (19 January 2010). "L+E Pictures Is Alone in Damascus". movieweb.com. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  9. "Israel spy Eli Cohen will get the feature-film treatment". latimesblogs.latimes.com. 14 January 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  10. "Jean-Claude Van Damme's 'We Die Young' to Open Mammoth Film Festival". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
  11. "We Die Young | Blu-ray & DVD (Lionsgate) | cityonfire.com". Retrieved 2019-10-05.
  12. RedCarpetCrash (2019-03-02). "Movie Review: 'We Die Young'". RedCarpetCrash.com. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
  13. ""We Die Young" Gang Related". ACED Magazine. 2019-02-28. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
  14. Bona, JJ (9 March 2018). "Van Damme to teach street gangs a lesson in 'We Die Young'?". lcityonfire.com. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  15. "TAU student film sets Guinness World Record". english.tau.ac.il. 18 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  16. Anderman, Nirit (8 April 2017). "Film on Arab Boy's Unlikely Friendship With Israeli Ex-soldier Sets Guinness World Record". haaretz.com. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  17. "Roads". israelfilmcenter.org. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
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