David Nevins Among Honorees at 26th Annual Israeli Film Festival

Enriching the American vision of Israeli life and culture through the powerful medium of film, the Israel Film Festival has definitively become the largest showcase of Israeli movies in the United States. Running March 15-29 in Los Angeles, 2012 is the 26th anniversary of this much acclaimed Israeli showcase that celebrates the finest of Israeli cinema, this year encompassing over 30 dynamic titles, including award winning features, documentaries, television programs and student shorts.

David Nevins, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc. and Executive Producers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa will be honored with the 2012 IFF Achievement in Television Award for the critically-acclaimed series "Homeland," at the opening night event taking place on Thursday, March 15th at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California. "Homeland" is based on a hit Israeli television show that was developed into a Golden Globe Award-winning American series by its executive producers and Showtime, marking the highest profile American transformation of an Israeli series to date.

Nevins, Gordon and Gansa will join previously-announced Jonah Hill, who will receive the IFF Achievement in Film Award. All presentations will occur prior to the screening of the Opening Night film, Yossi Madmoni's Restoration, which won the Best Film awards at both the 2011 Jerusalem and Karlovy Vary Film Festivals and the Dramatic Screenwriting Award at Sundance.

"This year marks an important turning point in the relationship between Hollywood and the Israeli entertainment industry", says Meir Fenigstein, Founder and Executive Director of the IFF. "For 25 years, the IFF has made great strides in connecting the two but for the first time, we are able to honor a remarkable US TV show, 'Homeland,' which is based on the successful Israeli series, 'Hatufim' ('Prisoners of War'). We are delighted to present David Nevins, Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa with this award for bringing 'Homeland' to American audiences."

The Guest of Honor during the Festival's Opening Night is Limor Livnat, Israel's Minister of Culture and Sport. She will be making her first appearance at the IFF.

The Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles will be occurring simultaneously as Footnote, the recent Israeli Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Film released by Sony Classics, will also be in area theatres. "Outside of Israel itself, never before will there be so many Israeli films playing at one time in as many theatres - our Festival films coupled with Footnote," said Fenigstein. "It's a momentous, wonderful occasion that Israeli entertainment is currently experiencing its widest acceptance yet. We at the Festival are very proud to bring our great movies and television programming to audiences."

All Israel Film Festival films will screen at the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills and the Laemmle Fallbrook 7 in West Hills. Tickets are now available. For additional information, visit www.IsraelFilmFestival.com or call IsraFest toll-free at 1-877-966-5566.

David Nevins is responsible for developing, acquiring and supervising all aspects of programming for all of the Showtime Networks channels. The first project greenlit by Nevins at Showtime was "Homeland," which premiered to record breaking ratings in October 2011. Under his tenure, Showtime has launched six consecutive hit original series, with "Homeland," "House of Lies," "Shameless," "The Borgias," "Episodes" and "The Big C."

Prior to joining Showtime, Nevins was an Emmy(R) Award-winning producer and veteran network and studio programming executive. He served as President of Imagine Television from July 2002 until June 2010, where he oversaw development, production and acted as executive producer on all Imagine Television shows. Under his leadership, Imagine produced the Golden Globe(R)-nominated "Arrested Development," "Lie To Me," "Parenthood," "Friends With Benefits" and the acclaimed series "Friday Night Lights," which has received honors from the American Film Institute (AFI) for Television Program of the Year and the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award.