Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design 2011 graduate, Yotam Cohen, has been chosen as the only Israeli to screen his work at the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF), which opens this week.

Cohen’s undergraduate short film, Peacemaker Mac – The Island of Dispute, will be screened at the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) between September 19 and 23. He is the only filmmaker from Israel to present his work at the prestigious animation festival this year. Cohen graduated from the Screen-Based Arts Department at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem in 2011, and his film is a pencil-on-paper-style animated film, which he produced as his graduation film in 2011.

The Ottawa festival is the largest event of its kind in North America and is a major film event attracting delegates from around the world. The screenings are some of the best new animation works selected from nearly 2,500 entries and they include a mixture of short independent films, TV commercials, series, student films, music videos, and more.

Bezalel Academy’s Screen-Based Arts Department has featured some of its top students’ animated films at the Ottawa festival in past years and has won “Best School Showreel” twice – in 2007 and 2011.

The animated short film is about Peacemaker Mac, who arrives on the Island of dispute to settle a land conflict. He tries his usual methods – handshakes, peace accord-like ceremonies and even a separation barrier. After realizing that he only escalated the already aggressive situation, his real concern is for his untarnished resume. So he quickly escapes the island and destroys all evidence behind him.

“Yotam’s excellent film is the result of many months of hard work, love and dedication,” says Professor Rony Oren, head of Bezalel’s Animation Track. “We are extremely proud of the fact that one of our students is representing Israel at this festival in Ottawa and we know that this is a sign of only good things to come for Yotam in his animation career.

“Bezalel’s film students are well-known internationally for their creativity and innovation, and the more than 80 awards our students have won over the past decade is testament to the quality of the work that comes out of Bezalel. It also reinforces the Academy’s status as one of the leading institutions of its kind in the world,” says Oren.