Who will represent Israel at the Oscars? The 2026 Ophir Awards ceremony is underway

The 37th Ophir Awards ceremony is taking place tonight at Cinema City Glilot. The film "Atzmaut" leads with 16 nominations, a record in the history of the ceremony. The winner of the Best Feature Film category will represent Israel at the 99th Academy Awards.

The 37th Ophir Awards, Israel's prestigious film awards, are taking place tonight (Wednesday) at Cinema City in Glilot. Six films are competing for Best Feature Film: "Atzmaut" by Moshe Rosenthal, "Our Loves" by Avi Nesher, "The Comedian" by Shuli Rand and Gidi Dar, "Home!" by Reut Akerman, "Lan Levin" by Asaf Mencher, and "Mama" by Or Sinai. The film "Atzmaut" leads the nominations list with 16 nominations—a record in the history of the ceremony. Following it are "Our Loves" and "The Comedian" with 12 nominations each, and "Lan Levin" and "Mama" with 11 nominations each. The ceremony will award a Lifetime Achievement Award to veteran actress Levana Finkelstein. The winner of the Best Feature Film award will represent Israel at the 99th Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category. On December 15, the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will publish the list of 15 films that passed the initial screening in this category.